Can I get tested if I don't have symptoms yet?

Sometimes. If a relative has a confirmed genetic diagnosis, testing you for that specific variant is straightforward and accurate. For adult-onset conditions without a treatment, we ask you to see a certified genetic counselor first. Testing someone with no symptoms and no family diagnosis on a broad panel is rarely useful and often returns uncertain results.

What does a variant of uncertain significance mean?

That the laboratory found a change in a gene but does not yet have enough evidence to say whether it causes disease. It is not a diagnosis and should not change your treatment. Most variants that are later reclassified turn out to be benign. We look at whether it fits your symptoms, sometimes test relatives to clarify it, and check its status again at follow-up.

What is the difference between a gene panel and exome sequencing?

A panel reads a chosen set of genes linked to one kind of presentation, such as hereditary neuropathy or ataxia. Exome sequencing reads the coding regions of nearly all genes. Panels are faster, cheaper, and return fewer uncertain results, so they come first for most people. Exome sequencing is for when panels have found nothing and the picture still points to a genetic cause.

Is there a genetic test for multiple sclerosis?

No. Many common gene variants each nudge MS risk slightly, but none diagnoses it or predicts it in an individual. MS is diagnosed on the history, examination, MRI, and sometimes spinal fluid, described on our MS evaluation page. The same is true of common migraine.

How long do genetic test results take?

Typically a few weeks for a single-gene test or a panel, and longer for exome or genome sequencing, depending on the laboratory. Repeat-expansion assays are usually on the faster end. We tell you the expected turnaround when the test is ordered and schedule the results visit accordingly.

Will my insurance cover genetic testing?

The laboratory bills your insurance for the test, and coverage depends on your plan and on the clinical justification we document. We handle the prior authorization. Most laboratories also have a self-pay price and financial assistance, and we tell you the options before anything is ordered. Our visits are fee-for-service.

Are my genetic test results confidential?

Your results are part of your medical record and protected under HIPAA. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prevents health insurers and most employers from using genetic results against you. GINA does not cover life, disability, or long-term care insurance, and we say so before testing.

Can genetic testing determine if my children will develop a neurological condition?

For a confirmed single-gene condition, a positive result in a parent tells you the chance each child inherits the variant, and children can be tested later if they choose. Whether a child who carries a variant develops symptoms, and how severely, is less predictable. We involve a genetic counselor for family planning decisions.

Neurogenetic Testing Los Angeles | Genetic Testing Neurology

Neurogenetic Testing in Los Angeles, Ordered and Explained by a Neurologist

Medically reviewed by Dr. Achillefs Ntranos, MDPublished September 14, 2024Updated September 3, 2026

Genetic testing is easy to order and hard to order well. Laboratories sequence hundreds of genes at once, and a test chosen without a clear clinical question returns variants nobody can interpret. The useful sequence runs the other way: examine the patient, define the pattern, let the pattern choose the test.

Which neurological disorders can genetic testing diagnose?

A result can confirm what the examination suggested, end a search that has run through years of inconclusive tests, tell relatives whether they are at risk, and in a growing number of conditions point to a treatment. It is not available for everything, which is the part patients are most often misled about.

Condition family	Genetic diagnosis available	What a result changes
Hereditary neuropathy: Charcot-Marie-Tooth, transthyretin amyloidosis	Yes	The amyloid form is treatable
Muscular dystrophies and inherited myopathies	Yes	Confirms the diagnosis and what to monitor
Ataxias, spastic paraplegias, Huntington's disease	Yes, by repeat-expansion assay	Explains progressive imbalance and informs relatives
Familial ALS and motor neuron disease	In a minority	Some genes now have targeted therapies
Epilepsy from childhood or with a family pattern	Often	The gene can direct the medication choice
Early-onset dementia, CADASIL	Sometimes	In late-onset memory loss, cognitive testing first
Multiple sclerosis, common migraine	No	Diagnosis rests on MRI and examination

Repeat-expansion disorders deserve a note. Huntington's disease, many ataxias, myotonic dystrophy, and the C9orf72 form of ALS need a separate assay, because standard panels miss them. That is a common reason a previous negative test was incomplete.

The types of genetic test

In increasing breadth: a single-gene test when the picture points to one condition; a panel of genes grouped by presentation, which is the right test for most patients; a repeat-expansion assay where one is needed; and exome or genome sequencing when panels have found nothing. Broader is not better. The wider the net, the more uncertain variants it returns, and the more it costs to interpret them. Testing parents or siblings alongside you often makes an exome result readable.

DNA double helix beside a family pedigree and sample tube. — The examination and family history guide what the laboratory should test.

What a result actually means

A positive result in a gene that matches your presentation confirms the diagnosis, usually ends further invasive testing, sometimes opens a treatment or a trial, and gives relatives the option of an accurate test for the same variant.

A negative result is less final than it sounds. It lowers the likelihood of the conditions tested and says nothing about the ones that were not, and panels are revised every year. We treat it as one piece of the workup, not the end.

Predictive testing, meaning a test in someone with no symptoms, is accurate when a specific familial variant is known. For adult-onset conditions without a treatment, such as Huntington's disease, the standard of care is to work through that decision with a certified genetic counselor first. We arrange the referral. Some people choose to test, many choose not to, and both are reasonable.

How testing works here

The consultation
Sixty minutes with Dr. Achillefs Ntranos, MD, in person or by video: history, a three-generation family tree, examination, and prior testing. When the honest answer is that testing will not help, we say so.
Choosing the test
The pattern from the examination and family tree picks one of the test types above. If you have already had a negative test, we check what it actually covered, because a panel that skipped the repeat-expansion assay has not excluded the conditions that need it.
Consent, cost, and the sample
What the test can and cannot find, the chance of an uncertain result, and how the laboratory bills. Nothing is ordered until you have those answers. Then a blood draw or a saliva kit, run at a CLIA-certified laboratory.
Results and plan
Dr. Ntranos reads the report against your examination and explains it plainly: positive, negative, or uncertain, and what that means for you and your family. Treatment, monitoring, referrals, or family testing, written down.

Variants of uncertain significance

A variant of uncertain significance is a change the laboratory cannot yet call harmful or harmless, usually because it is too rare for anyone to have seen it often enough to know. The larger the panel, the more of them you get. A VUS is not a diagnosis, and professional guidelines say it should not be used to make medical decisions.

Our job is to decide whether it fits your presentation, whether testing relatives would clarify it (a variant present in an unaffected parent is usually benign), and whether anything should change meanwhile, which is usually nothing. Laboratories reclassify variants as evidence accumulates, most often toward benign, and we revisit open variants at follow-up.

Magnifying glass over a DNA helix beside a blank report and family pedigree. — The laboratory result is interpreted against your symptoms and family history.

Before you decide

A result can land heavily whichever way it goes: relief at having a name, or grief, guilt about children, worry about relatives. We talk about that before testing, not only after, and involve a certified genetic counselor whenever the decision or the result calls for it. We do not provide mental health treatment, and will help you find it.

Privacy is worth settling before the sample is drawn. The FAQ sets out what the law does and does not protect.

Questions worth sitting with:

What would I do differently with a positive result, and with a negative one?
Do I want to know about a condition that cannot yet be treated?
How will I tell my relatives, and do they want to know?
Am I planning a family, and would the result change those plans?

Cost and booking

Our visits are flat-fee and not billed to insurance. You receive a superbill, and most PPO plans reimburse 50–80%, depending on out-of-network benefits and deductible. HSA and FSA cards are accepted. See billing.

The laboratory bills your insurance for the test itself, and we handle the prior authorization. Coverage varies by plan, and most laboratories also offer a self-pay price and financial assistance. We tell you the options before the sample is drawn.

If you have symptoms that might be inherited, a relative with a genetic diagnosis, or a report you would like explained, book a consultation or call (310) 774-7025. Having an existing result read in context is a common reason for a second opinion.