Question about "Borderline
Please read my blog (link at the bottom in my signature line) it give our personal experience and give the guidelines for sweat test result numbers.
Your question asking if the results this time are a good sign or not leads me to believe you are hoping the number changes his/her condition somehow (see below) -- like the other poster said, the difference is negligible -- the bigger question (in my opinion) is:
<b>Does this child have CF or not and what is the doctor doing to determine that so you can get the appropriate treatment for your child?</b>
What has happened in the last 14 months? Why would they wait so long to repeat the test?
Assuming the testing was done correctly at a certified center, they are probably very accurate and unlikely they will change over time -- the number is not an indicator that your child is "getting better" or "getting worse" like some other types of medical test might be. The sweat test is a diagnostic tool that indicates how well the sweat chloride channels are functioning -- if they are not functioning correctly that is a very good indicator that the genes responsible for causing that malfunction are the mutations associated with CF genes.
<b>Please be aggressive with the doctor and insist on full genetic testing</b> (blood test) for hopefully a better picture of whether or not your child has CF. The blood test is not 100% either because some people still have genes that have yet to be identified, but your chances of getting positive results when looking for over 1400 gene mutations is a whole lot better than just getting a borderline sweat test result.
Please read my blog (link at the bottom in my signature line) it give our personal experience and give the guidelines for sweat test result numbers.
Your question asking if the results this time are a good sign or not leads me to believe you are hoping the number changes his/her condition somehow (see below) -- like the other poster said, the difference is negligible -- the bigger question (in my opinion) is:
<b>Does this child have CF or not and what is the doctor doing to determine that so you can get the appropriate treatment for your child?</b>
What has happened in the last 14 months? Why would they wait so long to repeat the test?
Assuming the testing was done correctly at a certified center, they are probably very accurate and unlikely they will change over time -- the number is not an indicator that your child is "getting better" or "getting worse" like some other types of medical test might be. The sweat test is a diagnostic tool that indicates how well the sweat chloride channels are functioning -- if they are not functioning correctly that is a very good indicator that the genes responsible for causing that malfunction are the mutations associated with CF genes.
<b>Please be aggressive with the doctor and insist on full genetic testing</b> (blood test) for hopefully a better picture of whether or not your child has CF. The blood test is not 100% either because some people still have genes that have yet to be identified, but your chances of getting positive results when looking for over 1400 gene mutations is a whole lot better than just getting a borderline sweat test result.