Autoimmune
Diseases:
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) |
| This page was written
by Shelley Ensz, and has
not yet been medically edited. See Disclaimer. |
|
|
|
| Diagnosis
of Lupus |
| Lupus Diagnosis Can Be Difficult. Lupus Foundation of America. |
| Diagnosis
of Lupus To assist the physician in the diagnosis of
lupus, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in 1982
issued a list of 11 symptoms or signs that help distinguish
lupus from other diseases (see Table 2). This has recently
been revised. A person should have four or more of these
symptoms to suspect lupus. Lupus Foundation of America. |
| The Cutoff Points of Antinuclear Antibody (ANA) with High Negative and Positive Predictive Values. Analysis of 5655 Cases. The cutoff point of ANA titer 160 is appropriate to exclude SLE (Lupus), MCTD (Mixed Connective Tissue Disease), SSc (Systemic Scleroderma) in most of the clinical setting. ANA 640 or higher deserves further investigation such as disease specific autoantibodies even without characteristic clinical findings, especially after proper exams for chronic liver and thyroid diseases and RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis). Hisanori Shimizu. 1515/129. ACR 2007. (Also see: Antibodies, SSc, MCTD, and RA) |
| Fifty years of anti-ds DNA antibodies: are we approaching journey's end? This review concludes that whilst some way short of ideal, the identification and measuremenet of antibodies to double-stranded DNA remains a useful criterion for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus and some of these antibodies do appear to be genuinely pathogenic. Rheumatology. Volume 46, Number 7 Pp. 1052-1056. |
| Quantitation
of autoantibodies in systemic autoimmune diseases: clinically
useful? Treatment based on changes in levels of the respective
autoantibodies only seems at present not justified, in view
of the toxicity of currently available immunosuppressive
regimens. (Sage Journals OnLine) Lupus, Vol. 15, No. 7, 397-402 (2006) (Also see: Antibodies) |
| Diagnostic
accuracy for lupus and other systemic autoimmune diseases
in the community setting. Many patients with a positive
antinuclear antibody test are incorrectly given a diagnosis
of SLE and sometimes treated with toxic medications. The
data support the importance of continuing medical education
for community physicians in screening for autoimmune diseases
and identifying patients who may benefit from early referral
to a specialist. PubMed. Arch Intern Med. 2004 Dec 13-27;164(22):2435-41. |
| Identification
of masqueraders of autoimmune disease in the office. There
are several rheumatologic and autoimmune disorders that can
masquerade as allergic disease. These conditions include
rheumatoid and juvenile arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, systemic
lupus erythematosus, Behcet's and antiphospholipid syndromes,
systemic sclerosis, vasculitis, sarcoidosis, chronic fatigue
syndrome, and fibromyalgia. PubMed. Allergy Asthma Proc.
2003 Nov-Dec;24(6):421-9. (Also see: Rheumatoid
Arthritis, Sjogren's
Syndrome, Behcet's, Antiphospholipid, Systemic
Sclerosis (Scleroderma), Vasculitis, Sarcoiditis, Fibromyalgia
and CFS) |
| | Keep on Surfing! | | Go to Antibodies
in Lupus | |
