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A Practical Guide to Autoantibody Testing in Rheumatic Diseases

Donald Thomas, MD, FACP, FACR, RhMSUS, & Jason Liebowitz, MD  |  Issue: October 2024  |  

Up to 30% of treated SLE patients become ANA negative over time.17,18 When we see a new patient with a previous diagnosis of SLE who is ANA negative during the evaluation, it is imperative you obtain previous records and review the initial results on which the diagnosis of SLE was based. Assuming the patient does not have SLE because the ANA is negative and stopping therapy without exercising due diligence and executing a previous record review could be catastrophic.

Donald Thomas, MD, FACP, FACR, RhMSUS, is a rheumatologist who specializes in caring for patients with lupus and Sjögren’s disease at Arthritis and Pain Associates of P.G. County, Greenbelt, Md. He is the author of The Lupus Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Guide for Patients and Health Care Providers. He also enjoys teaching at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a clinical associate professor of medicine at the Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Md.

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Jason Liebowitz, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York.

Disclosures

Dr. Thomas has spoken for Exagen Diagnostics Inc. and is a scientific advisor for Progentec Diagnostics.

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References

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  17. Wallace DJ, Silverman SL, Conklin J, et al. Systemic lupus erythematosus and primary fibromyalgia can be distinguished by testing for cell-bound complement activation products. Lupus Sci Med. 2016 Feb 1;3(1):e000127.
  18. Wallace DJ, Stohl W, Furie RA, et al. A phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study of belimumab in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Rheum. 2009 Sep 15;61(9):1168–1178.

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