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Dr Azha Maqbool, Dr Hina Ali, Dr Easha-Tur-Razia
Aim: To determine the positivity and prevalence of ANA in various autoimmune diseases in children. Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study conducted at the departments of Pediatric Medicine and Immunology and Serology of the Jinnah Hospital, Lahore for six months duration from March 2020 to August 2020. More than 200 blood samples were taken from various medical departments and external medical departments, and serology for ANA Elisa tests was also performed. Of these, only ANA positive patients were selected. Pre-designed pro-form information and data were analyzed by SPSS version 19. Results: Of the 200 patients, 45 (22.5%) were ANA positive. Of 45 ANA positive patients, 25 (55.6%) had a diagnosis of SLE, 9 (20%) had MCTD, 5 (11.1%) had scleroderma, 4 (8.9%) had dermatomyositis, 2 (4.4%) had polymyositis. There was also a female advantage with a female to male ratio of 3: 1.2. The age of the studied population ranged from 3 (minimum) to 16 (maximum) years with an average age of 10.29 ± 3.80 years. Conclusion: The ANA Elisa test can be used as a screening tool for clinically suspected rheumatic diseases in children. Key words: antinuclear antibodies, systemic lupus erythematosus, mixed connective tissue disease.