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Al Borg Diagnostics
Arthritis
What is arthritis and what diseases can cause arthritis?
Arthritis is an inflammation of a joint membrane, possibly caused by bacteria or other factors; which can result in varying degrees of pain, restricting movement.
There are two main types of arthritis:
- Inflammatory arthritis; caused by many diseases which usually impact the joints or the areas around them, which subsequently affects other parts of the body, such as the skin, kidneys, or lungs. as Rheumatoid arthritis, Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjögren’s Syndrome, Psoriatic arthritis, Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), gouty arthritis and infective arthritis.
- Non inflammatory arthritis as osteoarthritis
What are the symptoms?
- Inflammatory arthritis usually causes joint stiffness with rest, especially morning stiffness. Symptoms are swelling, redness, pain and warmth in the joint. This pain is followed by a partial or complete loss of joint movement, difficulty in moving, walking, combing hair, wearing clothes and holding things, and sometimes joint deformity as a result of cartilage damage and erosion.
- Non inflammatory arthritis usually causes pain that is aggravated by movement and weight bearing and is relieved by rest. Joints on one or both sides of the body may be affected.
What is the diagnosis?
A medical history and physical examination usually provide the most helpful information; laboratory tests (such as blood and urine tests), imaging tests (such as x-rays), and other tests are sometimes needed. For example:
- General laboratory tests: ESR – hsCRP – ANA – CBC – urine analysis.
- Lab tests of rheumatoid arthritis: HLA-DR4 for genetic predisposition – RF – anti-CCP- ANCA – S100 protein. Anti-RA33 has been found to be positive in the initial stages of RA and seems to correlate with disease activity.
- Lab tests of SLE: ANA, anti-ds DNA, anti-Smith antibody, renal function test, renal biopsy, CBC and coagulation profile.
- Lab tests of Sjögren syndrome: Ro/SS-A, La/SS-B A.
- Lab tests of Scleroderma: ACA.
- Topoisomerase I (Scl 70) autoantibody, anti-nucleolar antibodies are associated with diffuse systemic sclerosis.
- Lab tests of mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD); Anti-U1 RNP antibodies.
- Lab tests of gout: serum uric acid – synovial fluid aspiration for intracellular urate crystals (gout) or calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals (pseudogout).
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