Rheumatology: anti-CCP antibody: practice question

The best answer is A, Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody. Anti-CCP antibodies have about 95 percent specificity for rheumatoid arthritis and can appear years before symptoms.

Anti-dsDNA is specific for lupus.

ANA is non-specific and found in many connective tissue diseases.

Anti-Scl-70 is associated with diffuse systemic sclerosis.

It tests Rheumatology: anti-CCP antibody in General Medicine. Rheumatoid factor is more sensitive but less specific, as it appears in other diseases and healthy elderly people. Anti-dsDNA is linked to lupus and anti-Scl-70 to diffuse systemic sclerosis.

We tag it as an application question: it asks you to use a fact on a patient or a finding. The tag is our own editorial judgement, not an official difficulty rating, so read the reason for every option, not only the answer.

For each disease know the classic presentation, the best test, and the first-line treatment. Then use the flashcards and the other General Medicine questions on this site to test what stuck.

No. It is an original practice item (editorial status: sample, version 1). NextPrep does not publish recalled or leaked questions, and independent faculty review of this item has not been completed yet, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.