Antiperinuclear factors are present in polyarthritis before ACR criteria for rheumatoid arthritis are fulfilled.
OBJECTIVE
To show that antiperinuclear factor (APF) may be useful for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis at a time when the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria are not yet fulfilled.


METHODS
Testing for APF-IgG (1:100 threshold) and rheumatoid factors (RF) was done in 60 patients with polyarthritis of recent onset during a three year follow up.


RESULTS
At the end of the study, 21/40 rheumatoid arthritis were positive for RF and 31/40 for APF, including 18/40 cases (45%) in which ACR criteria were not yet fulfilled.


CONCLUSIONS
APF are useful in the diagnosis of early rheumatoid arthritis.
Berthelot
J M
JM
Service de Rhumatologie, Hôtel-Dieu, CHU Nantes, France.
Maugars
Y
Y
Castagné
A
A
Audrain
M
M
Prost
A
A
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000032:analysis*; D001168:Arthritis / Q000175:diagnosis; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000097:blood
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D015415:Biomarkers; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; C030902:antiperinuclear factor; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor