"or is short axis the ‘shortest’ axis of 0.30 cm?"
No, saying the 'short axis' is just convention of referring to the width, not the length and also not the height.
Looking at a ship from above, the length is bow to stern, the width is starboard to port, the height is vertical height up and down.
I suppose there can be a very rare exception, as always.
"I’m more likely to have other fibrotic tendencies"
Yes, that is an astute observation. Everyone makes fibrosis when needed, but some people over react and make too much or make it too readily - as an immune over reaction. We can say that fibrocytes (cells) are part of the immune system. The fibrocytes (troops) get summoned to an area by other immune cells (commanders) exuding chemical signals, and they transform themselves and start making the fibrosis (mostly collagen) because of successive chemical signals.
Some immune systems over react, some under react, as most everything is on a bell curve.
So maybe yours over reacts. EXCEPT if that extra virulent virus you had also provoked extra fibrosis. But then again, the other people who had that same virus would have had fibrotic nodes also. Have you by chance asked them to examine themselves? Though maybe because of not being extra lean, they wouldn't be able to palpate any even if present.
"but my pcp, and the other 2 ENT’s said they feel they went fibrotic after my bad chest cold"
I'd go along with that, too. It's not uncommon, which is different than being common.
Permanent? Probably, but who in medicine has tried to reduce that, since it's not a big deal per se?
But what is a big deal is e.g. pulmonary fibrosis. There apparently are anti-fibrotic drugs, most of which are tyrosine kinase inhibitors if I remember correctly - effectively a specific type of anti inflammatory.
"...credence to the theory of a tooth deal"
Probably yes. You can find illustrations of lymph vessels and see if they line up. Whatever was causing the big node to react, isn't doing that so much anymore. Maybe the fibrosis is all that's remaining. You might remember that I'd been saying that a biopsy would see not only fibrosis but also inflammatory cells - if the pathologist is told to look for everything not just cancer cells.
That's a big congratulations for the size reduction. It also had been nicely oval.
"I feel like it may be skewed because men rarely have thyroid issues meaning few get an US on the neck and many could have it who don’t [know it]"
Bravo! That is some good higher order thinking.
I'll give a parallel. Many many people over 45 yrs have a 'slipped disc' that causes no symptoms. Then one day, they have back pain, get a scan and are told "There is the source of your pain!" Or, as you have discovered, many people have a mildly positive ANA. Prevalence statistics can be misleading.
Another is how an enlarged Virchow's node (above collarbone) is supposedly highly suggestive of an inner cancer. But of all those who have come through here with a Virchow's, no one had a cancer.
"prominence of going by the specific lab?"
Because their procedures might be a little different, so their numeric results don't go precisely with other labs. Any lab might use a 'kit' that comes from various manufacturers.
"now is MPV worrying given the kidney function levels are normal?"
Nope, I think it'd be the opposite - worrisome only with bad kidneys. Plus it's not very low.
Btw, normal levels in tests often get established just something like this: 95% of healthy people have a level in the "normal" range, so they designate that as normal. Some people will inevitably be normal and healthy but will fall outside the "normal" range somewhat anyway.
"Even hematology said they don’t even really use MPV unless someone is anemic to see what kind of anemia they have. Is that generally true?"
Yes, the MPV can help distinguish why platelets are low: whether from destruction (high MPV) or lack of production (low MPV).
"They did still look at the number and didn’t care and they even said WBC can be low in healthy people??"
Yep.
"Like almost a sign of health in certain cases??"
Oh yes, having lowish WBC is very enviable over the decades, as it tends against diseases of chronic inflammation like heart disease and cancer. That's *if* there is no pathological reason for low WBC. Which you don't seem to have. And *if* there are not a lot of resulting infections, which you don't have.
It's possible you are the healthiest person around, except for the little matter of those slightly enlarged nodes.
Northern European ancestry might mean genetics that are adapted to low vit D. So being low might not be detrimental to you as an individual, though it's bad in general for the population. That's just a guess. I'd still take some D3 though; even 20,000 IU as a large dose once a week or two is okay - rather than daily lower amounts.
So then, if the nodes are only on one side?
Here's something that strikes me as curious, regarding cervical nodes. If a person gets a cat scratch on one hand, their neck nodes might react. Yet the lymph system does not move from the hand to the neck. It rather goes up the arm, then over to the chest and into the venous circulation near the heart. The neck is not downstream of the hand, yet cat scratch fever is known for enlarged neck nodes.
The point is that it doesn't make sense, and it doesn't jive with the whole downstream theory of nodes - yet it happens. So, anything is possible.
That said, the tooth theory is still the best one at hand, at this point.
You do have to go only by the range that the lab provides, not a general range. There is, btw, a wide variety of lab-specific ranges for ANA tests - just to illustrate the point.
Well, if the vit D is very low I'd take a D3 supplement. It can't hurt. Then again, maybe your system actually wants low vit D, but there's no way to know that for sure. Is your ancestry from Northern Europe? Since you say the term 'ginger', I'm guessing British.
Interesting about your sed rate. Let's see... as I recall, elevated sed rate depends on increased overall antibodies and fibrinogen. They make for the formation of RBCs into rouleaux, like stacks of roulette chips, and so those formations settle more quickly. Yet you don't have that situation. Yes, a high sed rate level AFAIK might be 50s and higher.
So whatever is happening in the nodes seems to be very localized. That might bring us back to the tooth, exuding something at the root which makes its way to the nodes. I forget though: if you have nodes both sides? Then that goes against this theory.
I've seen a lot of people with inflammatory conditions that have low vitamin D. Vit D is anti-inflammatory. I don't think, though, that a person needs high (aka optimal) levels, it's just that very low is bad.
To make it from the sun, you need Mg, which is not particularly prevalent in food.
If a low MPV were caused by lymphoma, then you'd expect the platelet count to also be low (because of marrow suppression).
Platelets start out bigger then get smaller as time goes by; so if new ones aren't being put into circulation, then the average size decreases.
There's something about chronic kidney disease causing low MP but with normal platelet count. But I don't know the mechanism.