Can anyone explain ANA results? Autoimmune/Rheumatology Stuff

[srhs]

speckled ANA pattern
1.40 ANA titer
positive FANA (anti-nuclear AB)

[Elilly]

1:40 means that one part of your serum with 40 parts of a diluent still yielded a "positive" reaction. The speckled part is the pattern that the antinuclear antibody made on the cell. Speckled patterns usually require more follow-up testing to determine the cause. Tests like:
1. Smith Antibody (Anti-Smith)
2. Ribonucleoprotein Antibody (Anti-RNP)
3. Scl-70 kD kinetochore (Anti-Topoisomerase I)
4. Anti-La (Anti-SSB)

Good luck. I have a transiently positive 1:20 ANA and nothing has ever been determined.

[blisstwins]

I was also positive a while ago and they did not find anything. I don't remember specifics. Does a positive ANA always mean something?

[JenaW]

Basically, from my limited knowledge, a + ANA by itself really doesn't mean a whole lot. It is a very non-specific test that may indicate some sort of autoimmiune disorder, and is most frequently associated (although not always correctly) with people with SLE (lupus). I think I recall reading somewhere that 95% of patients with SLE have a pos ANA (meaning it is a sensitive test for SLE), but it is not all that specific, meaning that not a large percentage of the people who test positive will actually have SLE. Over 1/3 of the positives are false positives all together. It can also be positive with other autoimmune and rheumatic diseases like Sjogrens, Raynaud's, rheumatoid arthritis, scleorderma, etc. BTW, most of the people with lupus and a pos ANA have a much higher titre (1:300s)

I have a pos ANA at 1:160, also speckled. It was discovered during my work-up for multiple miscarriages about 7 years ago. The RE who ordered it wasn't concerned about it by itself, but felt it was part of the "package" of my antiphospholipid syndrome (which was diagnosed with my high titres of anticardiolipin Ab, recurrent pregnancy loss, and unexplained low platelet counts). A few years later, we moved and I switched OBs. He sent me to a hematologist for another work-up. That doctor said a pos ANA by itself meant nothing until I had more than one positive. It was repeated and was still positive at a higher titre, so they referred me to a rheumatologist who ordered several other tests that were more specific for SLE (anti-dsDNA, anti-SM, and some others which were all negative).

Unless you (or whomever had the test) has symptoms of an autoimmune or rheumatic disease, I wouldn't worry too much. If you are concerned, you can easily get further testing to rule things out.