A comparison of the specificity of the 1971 and 1982 American Rheumatism Association criteria for the classification of systemic lupus erythematosus.

The specificity of the preliminary and the revised American Rheumatism Association criteria for the classification of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was tested in 207 of our patients with other rheumatic diseases which were considered to be important in the differential diagnosis of SLE. Using the preliminary criteria, the data revealed that 5 patients were falsely classified as having SLE (2 with scleroderma, 2 with Raynaud's disease, and 1 with systemic necrotizing vasculitis), whereas using the revised criteria, only 2 patients (1 with scleroderma and 1 with systemic necrotizing vasculitis) were falsely classified. The calculated specificity was 99% for the revised criteria and 98% for the preliminary criteria. Thus, the data revealed that the specificity of the revised criteria is high and comparable with that of the preliminary criteria when applied to a group of patients with related rheumatic diseases.