bone, joint, and muscle disorders
Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD)
Diagnosis of MCTD
Blood tests Sometimes other tests The diagnosis of mixed connective tissue disease is based on all of the information doctors gather, including symptoms, physical examination results, and all test results. Doctors suspect mixed connective tissue disease when symptoms of lupus, systemic sclerosis, and polymyositis overlap. Blood tests are done to detect levels of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and an antibody to ribonucleoprotein (RNP), which are present in most people who have mixed connective tissue disease. People who have a high level of these antibodies but who do not have other antibodies present in similar disorders are most likely to have the disease. Although blood test results can help doctors diagnose the disease, they alone cannot confirm a definite diagnosis of mixed connective tissue disease because sometimes the abnormalities they detect are present in healthy people or in people who have other disorders. To determine whether people have pulmonary hypertension, doctors do Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT) to assess the lungs and 