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Eugene W. Monroe, MD
Milwaukee

Arch Dermatol. 1978;114(1):126-127.

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In Reply.—

Dr Olsen questions the specificity of the lupus band test (LBT) taken from clinically normal skin as a diagnostic tool. He cites a recent abstract by Baldassare et al¹ (published after the submission of my review article), who found deposits of IgM at the dermal-epidermal junction in eight of 16 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In my review article, I concluded that "the specificity of the LBT is very high in differentiating LE from other cutaneous disorders that are clinically similar."² A review of the literature produces only isolated reports of positive LBTs in other disorders. A recent large series of studies by Burnham and Fine,³ Grossman et al,⁴ Gilliam,⁵ and Tuffanelli⁶ show that the LBT is positive in a very small percentage of cases of other ANA-positive diseases. By combining these four series, the frequency of positive LBTs in other ANA-positive diseases . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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