ANOTHER BREAK THROUGH IN DIAGNOSIS: It is no secret that autoimmune and connective tissue diseases can be difficult to diagnose. In particular, lupus symptoms mimic those of many other illnesses and vary widely from person to person. Symptoms also appear, disappear, and change over time. The disease course is marked by periods of inactivity and disease flares. It may take medical specialists years to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. These factors, taken together, often make diagnosing lupus a long and complicated process. Adding to the difficulty is that there is no single laboratory test to determine whether a person has the disease. The antinuclear antibody (ANA) blood test has historically been used in the diagnosis of lupus, in conjunction with other factors such as a person’s medical history, the results of other laboratory tests, and a physical exam. But a positive ANA test does not always mean that a person has lupus. A number of other illnesses and conditions are associated with positive ANA test results. About 5 percent of otherwise healthy people will test positive for ANA. Adding to the complexity, a test result may be positive one time and negative another time, and different laboratories may produce different test results. In any medical situation, knowing the correct diagnosis and learning it quickly are crucial factors in enabling physicians to select the most appropriate treatment in a timely manner. But this is especially important for people with lupus because every day without treatment can mean dangerous and possibly permanent damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin, and other organs. A single test that can help diagnose a complex disease like lupus by ruling out other potential diseases could help physicians reach a definitive diagnosis in a shorter period of time. The AVISE™ SLE test, developed at the Lupus Center of Excellence in Pittsburgh, PA, by a research group led by Susan Manzi, M.D., M.P.H., and Joseph Ahearn, M.D., has been shown to do just that.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:06:41 +0000
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