[shorty]

Lab results - what do they mean?

by shorty on Sat Oct 04, 2014 12:15 pm

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this website. I'm hoping someone can help or explain what this results means. I have an appointment with a hematologist next month and its hard to find sites on this, especially if i have no idea what to look for.

So I am a diabetic of 32 years and had a kidney transplant 12 years ago. So I went and got yearly labs done. I was in shock when my coordinator called and referred me to a hematologist.

Well, anyways, my labs results were:

M-spike was: 0.2
Free kappa light chains 26.19
Protein, total urine 19.8
Protein / creatinine ratio 319

These were the only results that were high and all others were in range. A month is a long way to wait, especially since I don't know what to expect.

Any one with some input or similar results.

[Multibilly]

Re: Lab results - what do they mean?

by Multibilly on Sat Oct 04, 2014 6:57 pm

Hi Shorty,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm going to guess that you are somewhere in Europe given you used the term "coordinator"?

I realize that this can be a worrisome time as you await your follow up appointment. We've all been there before.

One really can't make any sort of a meaningful diagnosis from just this data, but we might be able to point you in a general direction. You also didn't mention what other tests you may have had done (CBC, Metabolic Panel, Serum Immunofixation, quantitative immunoglobulin tests, etc?). As you read the handbook below, you will understand that we will be interested in your hemoglobin, creatinine and calcium levels to understand if any "CRAB" issues might be popping up.

But in order to respond, we would need the units of measure (g/dL, etc) for hte lab results you posted here... and any future ones you post. It would also be nice to have the kappa light chain figure and the kappa/lambda ratio. Different labs use different units of measure, so we could be assuming something that is 10x or 100x more or less than what you've posted here.

Also, was your protein/creatinine ratio already out of range on earlier tests due to your earlier kidney issues?

You might find this handbook to be a good starting place for better understanding this disease and the various lab measurements that are used to diagnose a monoclonal gammopathy (if that is what it is). Once you read over the handbook you will likely better understand what folks on this site would be looking for in order to help you out.

http://myeloma.org/pdfs/Patient_Handbook_2013.pdf

Hope this helps a bit.