Quick Survey – ANA Titers in SSc Patients

While this is not widely known, some antibodies that are specific to the systemic sclerosis family of diseases tend to have high ANA titers and others much lower ANA titers.  Note that there are certainly many exceptions.

We are conducting a quick (five question), anonymous survey to see if there is any clear tendency for some antibodies to be associated with higher or lower antibody levels.  I realize that there are problems in this study design, for example, the well-known problem of false positive Scl-70 results, but that is fine for this preliminary study.  Depending on the results, it may be possible to do a follow-on formal study at two labs that specialize in this type of testing.

If you know your ANA titer and antibody, please consider taking this brief five question, anonymous survey.  It will only be open until the end of this week.

Here is the link to the study: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KM587GC

In order to take this survey, you need to meet the following criteria:

  • You are formally diagnosed with diffuse systemic sclerosis, limited systemic sclerosis, or an overlap syndrome such as MCTD
  • You have a positive ANA result done by a method called IFA.  A positive result will normally be a two part number such as 1:80 or 1:1280.  However, some labs just report the second number.
  • You know which antibody you are positive for
  • Optional additional information: the value of the antibody test AND the normal range for the test.  For example, the test might have a normal range of <20 and you have a result of 66.

Note: in some countries, ANA testing is done a bit differently and your result might not be one of the options on this survey.  For this preliminary study, please do not take this survey.

Important: If you have multiple positive ANA/IFA and antibody test results, enter the results from your most recent test.

Note: If you have any questions before taking this survey, contact Ed Harris at eharris@sclerodermainfo.org.