@article{3163778,
    title = "Validation of the classification criteria for cryoglobulinaemic
vasculitis",
    author = "Quartuccio, Luca and Isola, Miriam and Corazza, Laura and Ramos-Casals, and Manuel and Retamozo, Soledad and Ragab, Gaafar Mohamed and Zoheir, and Mostafa Naguib and El-Menyawi, Manal Abdel-Moneim and Salem, Mohamed and Nabil and Sansonno, Domenico and Ferraccioli, Gianfranco and Gremese, and Elisa and Tzioufas, Athanasios and Voulgarelis, Michael and and Vassilopoulos, Dimitris and Scarpato, Salvatore and Pipitone, Nicolo and and Salvarani, Carlo and Guillevin, Loic and Terrier, Benjamin and Cacoub, and Patrice and Filippini, Davide and Saccardo, Francesco and Gabrielli, and Armando and Fraticelli, Paolo and Sebastiani, Marco and Tomsic, Matija and and Tavoni, Antonio and Mazzaro, Cesare and Pioltelli, Pietro and and Nishimoto, Norihiro and Scaini, Patrizia and Zignego, Anna Linda and and Ferri, Clodoveo and Monti, Giuseppe and Pietrogrande, Maurizio and and Bombardieri, Stefano and Galli, Massimo and De Vita, Salvatore",
    journal = "Rheumatology (Bulgaria)",
    year = "2014",
    volume = "53",
    number = "12",
    pages = "2209-2213",
    publisher = "Oxford University Press",
    doi = "10.1093/rheumatology/keu271",
    keywords = "cryoglobulinaemia; hepatitis C; classification; vasculitis",
    abstract = "Objective. The aim of this study was to validate the classification
criteria for cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis (CV).
Methods. Twenty-three centres were involved. New patients with CV (group
A) and controls, i.e. subjects with serum cryoglobulins but lacking CV
based on the gold standard of clinical judgment (group B) and subjects
without cryoglobulins but with clinical features that can be observed in
the course of CV (group C), were studied. Positivity of serum
cryoglobulins was necessary for CV classification. Sensitivity and
specificity of the criteria were calculated by comparing group A vs
group B. The group A vs group C comparison was done to demonstrate the
possible diagnostic utility of the criteria.
Results. The study included 268 patients in group A, 182 controls in
group B and 193 controls in group C (small vessel vasculitis, 51.8%).
The questionnaire (at least 2/3 positive answers) showed 89.0%
sensitivity and 93.4% specificity; the clinical item (at least 3/4
clinical involvement) showed 75.7% sensitivity and 89.0% specificity
and the laboratory item (at least 2/3 laboratory data) showed 80.2%
sensitivity and 62.4% specificity. The sensitivity and specificity of
the classification criteria (at least 2/3 positive items) were 89.9%
and 93.5%, respectively. The comparison of group A with group C
demonstrated the clinical utility of the criteria in differentiating CV
from CV mimickers.
Conclusion. Classification criteria for CV were validated in a second,
large, international study confirming good sensitivity and specificity
in a complex systemic disease."
}