Saturday 25 September 2010

MRCP revision battle 20.7: ANCA

I had never heard of ANCA until I started my MRCP revision then it seemed to pop up everywhere!


ANCA stands for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies.  They are mainly IgG.  They are subdivided into 2 groups based on the patterns produced when they are stained:


1. cANCA
  • cytoplasmic, anti PR3
  • found in Wegeners (90%), mircroscopic polyangiitis (40%)
  • some correlation between level and disease activity



2. pANCA
  • perinuclear, anti MPO
  • found in churg strauss (60%), crescentic glomerulonephritis (80%), microscopic polyangiitis (60%), Wegeners (60%)
  • may also be seen in IBD, RA, SLE, sjogrens, autoimmune hepatitis




Thats it for today, no war at present but I'll try and post one later