Can anyone tell me what low IgA subclass 2 and low IgG subclass 2 mean

[Kbossman1]

Ok, so it's a crazy story.....and it's not over yet, but here it is so far.....My pediatrican sends my daughter for blood work because I've been telling him for over a year that I think she has PANDAS and I'm now insisting that he put her on long term abx. He tells me the next week that her bloodwork all looks normal, and he doesn't believe that it's PANDAS. 2 weeks later I'm back in the office with my daugher because she's complaining of tummy ache, sore throat, head ache etc....and the symptoms are all there......it appears as though we are right in the middle of an exacerbation. The doc still argues with me about PANDAS, so I then tell him that we made an apt. to see Dr. B in December....and he says I think you should.....b/c I don't know enough about it. I decide to ask for her bloodwork results so that I can compare numbers to some bloodwork that they did in June, and I never got a numeric answer, just that it looked normal. After waiting for a few minutes the nurse came in and handed me so copies....I looked them over and they were the exact same numbers of everything from June ( newest bloodwork done in October). I tell the nurse that this not what we just had done, and I would like to see the results from the newest bloodwork. They can't find them......long story, but it turns out that no one in the office ever got the results of my daughter's bloodwork from October.....the Dr. was reading from June (I guess) or just lying to me because he had never seen any results from her most recent blood. They found the results and there were a couple of abnormal things on there.....but my dr now says it's fine, and it's still means nothing. I have a HARD time believing that b/c I think he is trying to cover his own but from lying about bloodwork that he never saw. The questionable results are this:

IgA subclass 2 hers is 9.8 normal is 12.2-140.7 this was flagged LOW

 

IgG subclass 2 hers is 102 normal is 113-480 this was flagged LOW

****These were not in the low range in June, also in June she had ASO 38 and DNASE B AB < than 70, in October the test just says ASO...not detected.

 

I'm just wondering what the low results mean.....and she had been on antibiotics for a while when this was done in October....she's been off antibiotics for a couple of weeks, and we had blood taken again Friday for all of the testing that Dr. B recommends before we go. Thanks for any answers!

[P_Mom]

It seems a lot of our PANDAS kids have low immunoglobulin levels...why?? That is the magic question!

[Megs_Mom]

You might find it helpful to read chapters 2 & 10 of this Immune deficiency book: http://www.primaryimmune.org/publications/book_pats/book_pats.htm. IgG2 deficiencies are most common in kids, and they often outgrow it at puberty (sound familiar?!). Lot of kids here have had low IgG2 - and lots of others have been in the normal range. I'd suggest seeing an immunologist right away. Treatment is either abx or IVIG. Might be an important clue for your child. Glad you demanded the test results - maddening, isn't it?!?!

[JAG10]

Our lab report states an IgA 2 range of 2 to 37mg/dL and our dd's was 2. It's quest...are these ranges done by age? She's 10.

[P_Mom]

Our lab report states an IgA 2 range of 2 to 37mg/dL and our dd's was 2. It's quest...are these ranges done by age? She's 10.

 

 

Jill...yes..for children....they are done by age.

[kimballot]

You might find it helpful to read chapters 2 & 10 of this Immune deficiency book: http://www.primaryimmune.org/publications/book_pats/book_pats.htm. IgG2 deficiencies are most common in kids, and they often outgrow it at puberty (sound familiar?!). Lot of kids here have had low IgG2 - and lots of others have been in the normal range. I'd suggest seeing an immunologist right away. Treatment is either abx or IVIG. Might be an important clue for your child. Glad you demanded the test results - maddening, isn't it?!?!

 

Meg's Mom - Thanks! Nice book!

[Kbossman1]

Our lab report states an IgA 2 range of 2 to 37mg/dL and our dd's was 2. It's quest...are these ranges done by age? She's 10.

That's what my problem was.....when I questioned the dr....and let him know that I was really unhappy that they had been telling me everything was normal....and then when I get a copy of the results ( after they call to get them 2weeks later) there are 2 items that are flagged low. The Dr. now says that those levels are based on adults, and it's okay that she has low levels as a child. He told me that he doesn't consider what the subclass levels are, only the total IgG and IgA, and that he didn't even ask for those to be tested.....that's just something that they did. This also happens to be a lie because I'm the one who picked up the order for bloodwork and took it with us, and he did order the subclasses to be tested.......needless to say; he is fired and we now have a new pediatrician!

[JAG10]

Our lab report states an IgA 2 range of 2 to 37mg/dL and our dd's was 2. It's quest...are these ranges done by age? She's 10.

That's what my problem was.....when I questioned the dr....and let him know that I was really unhappy that they had been telling me everything was normal....and then when I get a copy of the results ( after they call to get them 2weeks later) there are 2 items that are flagged low. The Dr. now says that those levels are based on adults, and it's okay that she has low levels as a child. He told me that he doesn't consider what the subclass levels are, only the total IgG and IgA, and that he didn't even ask for those to be tested.....that's just something that they did. This also happens to be a lie because I'm the one who picked up the order for bloodwork and took it with us, and he did order the subclasses to be tested.......needless to say; he is fired and we now have a new pediatrician!

 

I'm sure Dr. B will be able to explain it all since it is his area of expertise. I wonder if one individual subclass being low isn't that big a deal, but when they are all low that is what yields LOW out of range Total IgA; I'm just speculating based on the way statistics work. At least my pediatrician was honest and admitted she didn't know what half of those labs were she was ordering!