Rheumatoid Arthritis
Diagnosis and evaluationDiagnosis In diagnosing RA, a health care professional (physician, physician's
assistant, or nurse practioner) will take a complete patient history
before performing a physical examination.
The care provider will look for certain features, including the joints involved. Sometimes the physician will order laboratory tests
and X-rays. Common joint patterns include involvement of many joints
(large and small) and arthritis affecting the small joints of the hands
and feet
Blood tests can be useful to make a diagnosis of rheumatoid
arthritis but are secondary to a history and physical examination.
Abnormalities in blood tests common in RA can include anemia and the
presence of the antibody called rheumatoid factor. Some people with
rheumatoid arthritis do not have a positive rheumatoid factor, and
indeed many individuals with a positive blood test for rheumatoid
factor do not have RA. Although X-rays early in rheumatoid arthritis
can be normal, the pattern of joint damage seen on X-rays of people
with long term disease can help confirm the diagnosis. In some cases it
may not be easy for your health care provider to make the diagnosis
with great certainty due to the lack of significant arthritis and other
distinctive features of RA. It may take several months for enough
features to appear to be certain of the diagnosis.
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