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[|Human|] Hi, I had a auto- stem cell transplant in June of 2012 and at my last two visits my dr. ordered an esr-westergren test. The first one came back at 14 and this last one was 35.  What could this indicate? And  should the tube be upright once blood is placed in it? Does this have any affect on the results.
[|AI|]  Hi, Thanks for writing in. ESR western test is a test for the sedimentation of blood when a standing column is allowed to settle with time. ESR is erythrocyte sedimentation rate and is a test that indicates inflammatory activity in a person. If it is high then there might be any inflammatory process in that person. It only tells that a condition is there but will not say what condition it is. The normal range of ESR in a young adult male is 0-22 mm/hr. The tube must be placed upright when the test is in progress and wrong positioning affects the test result. Your ESR is normal. Please do not worry.