Ask what lab tests are done for suspected rheumatic diseases?

Patients with suspected or confirmed rheumatic diseases come to the rheumatology and immunology department and often receive physical examination and various laboratory tests. Below, we will give you an explanation of some of the common laboratory tests. 1, blood and urine tests, liver function tests: to see if there are abnormal indicators, to help confirm the diagnosis of the disease and to monitor the adverse effects of drugs. 2, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR): referred to as the blood sedimentation rate, the normal reference value: adult males 0-15mm / h, women 0-20mm / h, blood sedimentation is high, indicating that the disease is still active, the higher the more serious! The higher it is, the more serious it is. Decrease in blood sedimentation shows that the drugs have played their role and the disease is under control.3. C-Reactive Protein (CRP): Normal value is ≤10mg/L. High CRP indicates that there is infection, trauma and inflammation in the body and the disease is still in the active stage.4. Anti-streptococcal haemolysin 0 (ASO): Normal value is less than 1:500, and a positive result shows that a person may have rheumatoid fever. A positive test shows that you may have rheumatic fever.5. Rheumatoid Factor (RF): RF is commonly found in a variety of rheumatic diseases and acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. Therefore, you cannot assume that you have rheumatoid arthritis simply because you have a positive RF. However, if the RF titer is high and multiple measurements are positive, then the likelihood of having rheumatoid arthritis is higher.6. Antikeratin antibody (AKA), anti-perinuclear factor (APF), anti-RA-33/66 antibody, anti-Sa antibody: commonly found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, with a high rate of positivity in the early stages of the disease.7. Antinuclear antibody (ANA): positivity is commonly found in a number of diseases. If you also have signs of systemic lupus erythematosus, you should be highly suspicious of lupus. A negative test is almost certainly not lupus.8. Anti-ds-DNA antibody: Almost exclusively seen in SLE patients. The higher the titer, the higher the disease activity. 9. anti-Sm antibody: Almost exclusively seen in SLE patients. However, not all lupus patients show positive results.10. Anti-SSA antibody and anti-SSB antibody: have greater significance in the diagnosis of dry syndrome.11. HLA-B27: have greater significance in the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis. Common imaging tests include: 1. X-rays: generally choose the area with the most severe symptoms. If the local symptoms are atypical, the doctor will choose the area where the disease commonly flares up to take pictures according to the identified direction of consideration. For example, for rheumatoid arthritis, hands and wrist joints are often chosen; for ankylosing spondylitis, sacroiliac joints and hip joints are often chosen. Generally every 3 months or half a year to shoot. 2, CT examination: high resolution, conducive to the early detection of disease, the lesions reflect a more comprehensive, specific. 3, magnetic *** vibration imaging and ultrasound: cartilage, synovial, joint effusion and other intra-articular lesions can be clearly shown for ankylosing arthritis and osteoarthritis. In addition, arthrocentesis and synovial fluid examination, as well as arthroscopy and synovial examination, are considered in patients who have a severe accumulation of fluid in the joint cavity or in whom the diagnosis cannot be confirmed. Because these tests require a high level of environmental and medical equipment conditions and technical skills of the doctor, it is recommended to choose a large hospital to perform them.