Abstract
Abeles and Abeles1 concluded that a positive antinuclear antibody test result was rarely clinically meaningful when requested by nonrheumatologists. The positive predictive value of antinuclear antibody tests was less than 10% for systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases and less than 3% for systemic lupus erythematosus.1 It is well established that antinuclear antibody and other autoantibody tests requested without strong clinical rationale have low positive predictive value.2 The article discourages the test even in cases with limited clinical justification.
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