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The Sant Joan d'Alacant Hospital laboratory develops an algorithm for the early detection of rheumatoid arthritis

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• The new protocol includes an automatic antibody test for patients who have tested positive for rheumatoid factor
• Early detection of the disease makes it possible to slow its evolution and improve the quality of life of patients.
• The protocol has already been disseminated in prestigious international scientific journals

The Clinical Analysis Service of the Sant Joan d'Alacant University Hospital develops an algorithm for the early detection of rheumatoid arthritis, which is giving good results and whose protocol has been published in prestigious international scientific journals.

 

In this sense, when the Primary Care doctor treats a patient and requests laboratory tests, this new system makes it possible to detect whether the patient has previously had a rheumatoid test with a positive factor; if so, an analysis is automatically included. of anti-CPP (anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide) antibodies.

 

In addition, the system detects if this type of test has already been performed in the last twelve months, so it will not be repeated to avoid duplications, since the patient already has a diagnosis.

Thanks to this, it has been possible to reduce nearly 3,000 tests in a period of 22 months, while hidden cases have been detected. Likewise, great profitability has been achieved by reducing waiting times, unnecessary examinations and studies and has allowed patients with this pathology to be treated earlier.

 

The head of the Clinical Analysis Service, María Salinas, highlighted that “the objective has been to speed up the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and optimize the treatment of patients from Primary Care.”

 

On the other hand, Mauricio Mínguez, from the Rheumatology area of ​​the Sant Joan d'Alacant Hospital, has indicated that with this protocol “we have managed to detect a good number of hidden cases and apply disease-modifying treatments with which we have managed to stop its progression. improve the prognosis and preserve people's functionality.” Mínguez has also stressed that “it is very important to work on improving the continuity of care between primary and hospital care.”

 

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common autoimmune disease in adults. In Spain it has a prevalence of 1% and it is estimated that around 500,000 people suffer from it. Its symptoms are joint pain and inflammation and it can also lead to inflammatory processes outside the joint and affect the blood vessels and organs such as the liver, heart or lungs. It mainly affects women and early detection helps slow its progression and improve the quality of life of patients.

Dissemination of the study

The research, titled 'Double positivity for rheumatoid factor and anti-CCP antibodies: improving referral from primary care to patients suspected of suffering from rheumatoid arthritis', has been developed over a period of four years by the Clinical Analysis Service , in collaboration with the Primary Care health centers of the Alicante-Sant Joan d'Alacant Health Department and the Rheumatology Service of the hospital itself.

 

In addition to being implemented at the Sant Joan d'Alacant Hospital, this early detection system is now available for use in laboratories around the world as it has been openly disseminated. Thus, for example, the National Library of Medicine of the United States Government already has the study referenced among its publications.

 

“The mission of our laboratory is to help in daily clinical practice and our greatest satisfaction is to have this and other procedures that we have developed copied to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients in many countries around the world,” concluded Salinas. Thus, the laboratory of the Sant Joan d'Alacant University Hospital is an international leader in decision support in daily clinical practice and has already developed more than one hundred algorithms.