TY - JOUR T1 - Belgian recommendations on ANA, anti-dsDNA and anti-ENA antibody testing704 JF - Acta Clin.Belg. Y1 - 2014 A1 - Bossuyt,X. A1 - Humbel,R. A1 - Mewis,A. A1 - Servais,G. A1 - Tomasi,J.P. A1 - C . Van Campenhout A1 - L. Van Hoovels A1 - Vercammen,M. A1 - Damoiseaux,J. A1 - Wim Coucke A1 - P Van de Walle KW - 0 KW - 2010 KW - a KW - ALL KW - ANA KW - antibodies KW - Antibodies,Antinuclear KW - Antibody KW - Antigens KW - Antinuclear antibodies KW - article KW - AS KW - assessment KW - Autoantibodies KW - Autoimmune Diseases KW - Autoimmunity KW - Belgian KW - Belgium KW - blood KW - Cell Line KW - Clinical KW - disease KW - Diseases KW - Dna KW - European KW - external KW - External quality assessment KW - External quality assessment scheme KW - Fluorescent Antibody Technique,Indirect KW - Humans KW - im KW - immunology KW - INFORMATION KW - IS KW - journal KW - Laboratories KW - Marker KW - Markers KW - national KW - Nuclear KW - ON KW - outcome KW - Paper KW - Practice Guidelines as Topic KW - present KW - Print KW - Quality KW - Questionnaire KW - Questionnaires KW - recommendation KW - Recommendations KW - Reference Values KW - result KW - results KW - SB - IM KW - STANDARDIZATION KW - standards KW - statistics & numerical data KW - study KW - TESTING KW - varieties KW - variety KW - work AB - Autoantibodies to nuclear antigens, i.e. antinuclear antibodies (ANA), antibodies to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and extractable nuclear antigens (ENA), are useful as diagnostic markers for a variety of autoimmune diseases. In March 2010, the Belgian national External Quality Assessment Scheme sent a questionnaire on ANA, anti-dsDNA and anti-ENA antibody testing designed by the Dutch EASI (European Autoimmunity Standardization Initiative) team, to all clinical laboratories performing ANA testing. Virtually all laboratories completed the questionnaire (97.7%, 127/130). This paper discusses the results of this questionnaire and provides valuable information on the state-of-the-art of ANA, anti-dsDNA and anti-ENA antibody testing as practiced in the Belgian laboratories. In addition, this work presents practical recommendations developed by the members of the advisory board of the scheme as a result of the outcome of this study VL - 69 CP - 2 U1 - 704 M3 - 10.1179/2295333714Y.0000000010 [doi] ER -