INCIDENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SEROPOSITIVE TESTS FOR RHEUMATOID FACTOR IN NONRHEUMATOID DISEASES

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Abstract
Positive serological tests for rheumatoid arthritis factors appear in significant numbers of non-rheumatoid, noncollagen diseases. The incidence in a normal population is 1%; increases to 5% in a sick hospital population and is higher in diseases that may be accompanied by hypergamma-globulinemia, liver, lung, kidney, malignant diseases, viral and nonviral infections and other disease states that may be associated with primary or secondary macroglobulinemia. The incidence of "false positives" is not as high in the techniques that use rabbit anti-sheep evythrocyte serum rather than human Fraction II as the sensitizer (reactant), but analysis of the figures shows it of import. "False positive" tests should be investigated in the light of diseases and disease states that may give seropositive tests. The nature of reacting macroglobulin in nonrheumatoid, noncollagen diseases and its relation to rheumatoid factors is still to be determined.

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