American College of Rheumatology Criteria for the Diagnosis of Vasculitis
Authors: Stephen G. Gelfand
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1999)

Letters18 May 1999American College of Rheumatology Criteria for the Diagnosis of VasculitisStephen G. Gelfand, MDStephen G. Gelfand, MDOnslow Memorial Hospital; Jacksonville, NC 28546 (Gelfand)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-130-10-199905180-00005 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:The recent paper by Rao and colleagues (1) on the weakness of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria for diagnosis of the different types of vasculitis will be helpful for clinicians faced with the decision of whether to treat a patient for one of these diseases or to perform further diagnostic evaluations. The fact that patients without vasculitis meet ACR vasculitis criteria confirms the impression of physicians who have questioned the utility of these criteria for diagnostic purposes in the individual patient (2).The accompanying editorial (3) explains that the criteria were intended to standardize ...References1. Rao JK, Allen NB, Pincus T. Limitations of the 1990 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria in the diagnosis of vasculitis. Ann Intern Med. 1998;129:345-52. LinkGoogle Scholar2. Lhote F, Guilleuin L. Polyarteritis nodosa, microscopic polyangiitis, and Churg-Strauss syndrome: clinical aspects and treatment. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 1995;21:911-47. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Hunder GG. The use and misuse of classification and diagnostic criteria for complex diseases [Editorial]. Ann Intern Med. 1998;129:417-8. LinkGoogle Scholar4. The American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of vasculitis. In: Klippel JH, ed. Primer on the Rheumatic Diseases. 11th ed. Atlanta: Arthritis Foundation; 1997:459-61. Google Scholar5. Jennette JC, Falk RJ, Andrassy K, Bacon PA, Churg J, Gross WL, et al . Nomenclature of systemic vasculitides. Proposal of an international consensus conference. Arthritis Rheum. 1994;37:187-92. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Onslow Memorial Hospital; Jacksonville, NC 28546 (Gelfand) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoLimitations of the 1990 American College of Rheumatology Classification Criteria in the Diagnosis of Vasculitis Jaya K. Rao , Nancy B. Allen , and Theodore Pincus American College of Rheumatology Criteria for the Diagnosis of Vasculitis Israel Heller , Aharon Isakov , and Marcel Topilsky American College of Rheumatology Criteria for the Diagnosis of Vasculitis Jaya K. Rao , Nancy B. Allen , and Theodore Pincus Metrics Cited ByCutaneous sarcoid-like granulomas with alveolar hemorrhage and c-ANCA PR-3 18 May 1999Volume 130, Issue 10Page: 861KeywordsGiant cellsHeadachesImmunosuppressivesInfectious diseasesMyalgiaNursing homesPopulation statisticsRheumatologySteroidsVasculitis Issue Published: 18 May 1999 CopyrightCopyright © 1999 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...