Yelda BİLGİNER, Hafize Emine SÖNMEZ, Ezgi Deniz BATU

Çocuk Romatoloji Polikliniğine Anti-Nükleer Antikor (ANA) Pozitifliği ile Yönlendirilen Hastaların Özellikleri

Amaç: Anti-nükleer antikor (ANA), hücre çekirdeği yapısında yer alan yapılara karşı gelişen antikorlardır. Otoimmün

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Anti-nükleer antikor, Jüvenil idiyopatik artrit, Romatolojik hastalık

Characteristics of Patients Referred to the Pediatric Rheumatology Polyclinic with Anti-Nuclear Antibody (ANA) Positivity

Objective: Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) develop against the structures found in the cell nucleus. These antibodies canbe positive in the autoimmune disorders, but they can be also detected in healthy people. The objective of our studywas to determine the definitive diagnosis of the patients referred to our clinic due to the ANA positivity and find outwhether they develop rheumatologic disorders during the clinical follow-up.Material and Methods: We have reviewed the medical files of children who were referred to the pediatric rheumatologydepartment between 2014 and 2016 with ANA positivity.Results: 43 subjects were enrolled in the study. The complaints of the referred patients at first presentation wereas follows: joint symptoms in 19 patients (44.2%), mucocutaneous symptoms in 13 patients (30.2%), hematologicalfindings in 6 patients (14%), neurological symptoms in 3 patients (7%), and Raynaud’s phenomenon in 2 patients(4.6%). 34 patients (79%) had a positive ANA titer ≥ 1/160. The ANA titer level was below 1/160 in 9 patients (21%).23 patients (53.4%) were diagnosed with a rheumatologic disease, while 20 patients did not have any rheumatologicdisorder. There was no significant difference between the ANA-positive (n=34) and ANA-negative (n=9) patients withregards to the clinical and laboratory characteristics. The comparison of the patients with and without a rheumatologicdisorder revealed that the presence of auto-antibodies was more common and acute phase reactant levels were higherin the disease group for arthralgia, arthritis and Raynaud’s phenomenon.Conclusion: We conclude that ANA testing should preferably be requested in the presence of clinical findings associatedwith rheumatologic disorders.

Keywords:

Anti-nuclear antibody, Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Rheumatologic disease,

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