Rheumatoid Factor

[kds258]

My Rheumatoid Factor was 293.  I have pain in my shoulders, neck, elbow and knees.  Most severe in shoulders and neck.  Tests show no arthritis, mono, infection, but pain is persistant.  No stiffness in the mornings, infact usually feels a little better until I get up.  Sometimes I feel achy all over as if I have the flu, but run no fever.  Doctor can find nothing causing it.  

[doctornee medical]

Hi

Thanks for writing. Sorry for the delay in replying. Strangely I just saw your post.

There are a few things you should know about Rheumatoid Factor (RF). “The RF test is not diagnostic or specific. It must be interpreted in conjunction with the patient’s symptoms and history to make a diagnosis of RA, Sjögren’s syndrome, or another condition. The frequency of false positive RF results increases with age.”
“A negative RF test does not rule out RA or Sjögren’s syndrome. About 20% of patients with RA and many patients with Sjögren’s syndrome will be persistently negative for RF and/or may have very low levels of RF.

Positive RF test results may also be seen in healthy patients and in patients with conditions such as: endocarditis; systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus); tuberculosis; syphilis; sarcoidosis; cancer; viral infection; or disease of the liver, lung, or kidney. The RF test is not used to diagnose or monitor these conditions.
Please refer: http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/rheumatoid/test.html#what

“Because of this low specificity, a new serological test has been developed, which tests for the presence of so called anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs). Like RF, this test is positive in only a proportion (67%) of all RA cases, but is rarely positive if RA is not present, giving it a specificity of around 95%.”

“Also, several other blood tests are usually done to allow for other causes of arthritis, such as lupus erythematosus. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein, full blood count, renal function, liver enzymes and other immunological tests (e.g. antinuclear antibody/ANA) are all performed at this stage. Elevated ferritin levels can reveal hemochromatosis, a mimic RA, or be a sign of Still's disease a seronegative, usually juvenile, variant of rheumatoid.”
Please refer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheumatoid_arthritis#Diagnosis

I think you should see a good Rheumatologist and discuss your case with him. Other blood tests too need to be done and so also X-rays.

Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else.