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Febrile/cold agglutinins - Results

Alternative Names

Cold agglutinins; Weil-Felix reaction; Widal's test; Warm agglutinins

Normal Values:

Warm agglutinins: no agglutination in titers at or below 1:80
Cold agglutinins: no agglutination in titers at or below 1:16

Note: Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.

What abnormal results mean:

The presence of warm agglutinins may occur with:

Infections, including brucellosis, rickettsial disease, salmonella infection, and tularemia
Lymphoma
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Use of certain medicines, including methyldopa, penicillin, and quinidine

The presence of cold agglutinins may occur with:

Infections, especially Mycoplasma pneumonia
Previous viral, staphylococcal, or malaria infection
Cancer, including lymphoma and multiple myeloma
Systemic lupus erythematosus

Blood test

Reviewed last on: 11/2/2008
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Schwartz RS. Autoimmune and intravascular hemolytic anemias. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 164.

Baum SG. Mycoplasma infections. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 338.

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