RT Book, Section
A1 Nakamura, Mary C.
A1 Imboden, John B.
A2 Imboden, John B.
A2 Hellmann, David B.
A2 Stone, John H.
SR Print(0)
ID 57270140
T1 Chapter 3. Laboratory Diagnosis
T2 CURRENT Diagnosis & Treatment: Rheumatology, 3e
YR 2013
FD 2013
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-163805-0
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57270140
RD 2024/04/25
AB In  general,  laboratory  tests  are  useful  adjuncts  in  establishing  a  rheumatologic  diagnosis  but  are  not  absolutely  diagnostic  of  any  specific  disease.  Two  features  of  rheumatologic  diseases  contribute  to  the  difficulties  of  interpreting  laboratory  tests.  First,  many  rheumatic  diseases  are  chronic  systemic  inflammatory  diseases  and,  therefore,  share  many  laboratory  abnormalities  with  other  such  diseases,  particularly  chronic  infections  and  malignancies.  Second,  the  prevalence  of  certain  rheumatologic  diseases  is  low  in  most  patient  populations.  Therefore,  even  if  sensitivity  and  specificity  of  a  test  are  high  for  a  specific  disease,  the  positive  predictive  value  of  the  test  may  be  low.  Considering  these  statistical  characteristics  of  laboratory  tests  can  help  the  clinician  interpret  the  data  within  the  context  of  the  clinical  case.