Joint Swelling and Progressive Upper and Lower Extremity Weakness in a 39-Year-Old African- American Woman

1. What are this patient’s most striking clinical and laboratory findings? 2. How do you explain this patient’s most striking clinical and laboratory findings? 3. What is this patient’s most likely diagnosis? 4. What are the criteria for making this diagnosis? 5. What are anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs), how is their presence in a patient’s serum determined, how is the test for ANAs interpreted, what is the clinical significance of a positive ANA test, and how should our patient’s ANA test results be interpreted? 6. Is the magnitude of this patient’s increase in cardiac enzymes typical of individuals with our patient’s diagnosis? Explain your answer. 7. What is the significance of this patient’s abnormal pulmonary findings? 8. What is the most appropriate treatment for this patient? Possible Answers: