The Doctors Lounge - Rheumatology Answers
"The information
provided on www.doctorslounge.com is designed to support, not
replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site
visitor and his/her physician."
Back to Rheumatology Answers List
Question: High RA factor
| panaggie
- Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:25 pm |
I am 46 year old male with multiple symptoms that we are trying to get to the bottom of. I have posted in the Lymphoma thread because that's where my doctors were leaning. I have drenching night sweats perhaps every 7 to 10 days. I have daily ruq pain and fleeting luq pain. I have splitting Headaches, and Neck pain. I have had cat scans of the chest and abdomen,
mri of the head and neck, hida test, infectious disease tests, and complete blood tests. This is what they have found. THree lesions of the liver, 2 hemangioma and one no dx, one lesion of the kidney no dx, one hemangioma of the c6 vertebra, three hemangioma of the skull ( one was resected in Sept of 06 to relieve Headaches as it was pressing against the dura ), one angioma of the temporal lobe, no Lymph node involvement and no infectious disease. The only thing that is out of the normal range is the ra factor. It tested at 467 the first go round and 478 after the second test which was done to omit the chance of lab error. I know this is a long drawn out process, but what could possibly be wrong with me with this ra factor test being the only thing coming back abnormal? My PCP is trying to get me in to see a Rheumatoligist but has not had any luck yet. I have no swollen joints or joint pain but my hands do go to sleep especially the right one. What questions should I have ready for the rheumatologist? Current meds are 20 mg Lexapro dailly, lortab for the pain when it gets bad. I don't drink and am monogamous. Smoke about a 1/4 pack a day. Thanks in advance for your response.
Panaggie
|
| Dr. Chan Lowe
- Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:05 am |
 Unfortunately I really don't have any great advice for you. I have a few thoughts.
Rheumatoid factor is essentially a marker of autoimmune activity. Several things can trigger it to be high. Seeing a rheumatologist will be helpful to be able to get a better interpretation of what this means.
I am interested that you have so many hemangiomas. There may be something to this that should be investigated also.
My last thought: Where I trained, one of my mentors used to say "If there is an issue, get tissue." I suspect that the areas in your liver, kidney, etc. that cannot be identified likely hold some very good information for you. You may need a biopsy of these lesions to help determine what is going on.
Best wishes. I do hope you are able to come to a diagnosis soon.
|
| panaggie
- Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:08 pm |
Dear Dr. Lowe, My rheumatologist determined that all three high tests on the rheumatoid factor were false positive. We are still searching for dx. I will keep you posted. Thanks panaggie
|
Check a doctor's response to similar questions
 send
to a friend
|
