A 36-year-old woman complained of intermittent blurred vision and numbness and w

Question

A 36-year-old woman complained of intermittent blurred vision and numbness and weakness in her left leg that had persisted for longer than 3 weeks. On examination, vertical nystagmus (involuntary back-and-forth or circular movements of eyes) was noted on upward gaze. CSF was drawn and the specimen was clear and colorless with normal cell count. The CSF total protein level was 49 mg/dL with an IgG of 8.1 mg/dL. Electrophoresis of the patient's serum and CSF revealed the following pattern: more than two oligoclonal bands CSF (seen in Fig. 11-7) and a polyclonal pattern on SPE. What is the significance of the CSF protein bands indicated by the arrows? What conditions would produce this type of CSF protein electrophoresis pattern? What other tests would be helpful in the investigation of this patient's diagnosis? What laboratory test can be useful for monitoring the course of this patient's condition?

Explanation / Answer

1. The given image shows the proteins present in the csf of patient through gel electrophoresis, generally a polyclonal band , (many bands together) just like the one shown with arrow indicates similar proteins that have minor structural differences like the antibody IgG, it has same structure but slightly different epitopes since it is polyclonal.

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