Value of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate as a screening test.

as a routine screening test. Borchgrevink, Heist0, and Reimers Reksten (1965) found 41 (2 per cent.) of 2,205 Norwegian male blood donors with an ESR over 20 mm./hr; nineteen of these showed a persistent elevation. The ESR has not usually been included in screening programmes (Jungner, 1966; Collen, 1966), but we have found it of great value and therefore present our experience with 2,000 men. Ever since the appearance of Westergren's paper (1926), there has been considerable dispute over the range of normal values for the ESR. Our experience with 1,739 healthy men suggests that slightly broader limits than usual may be acceptable.