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ESR

• Overview
• Risks
• Results

Alternative Names:

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; Sed rate; Sedimentation rate

Normal Values:

Adults (Westergren method):

• Men under 50 years old: less than 15 mm/hr
• Men over 50 years old: less than 20 mm/hr
• Women under 50 years old: less than 20 mm/hr
• Women over 50 years old: less than 30 mm/hr

Children (Westergren method):

• Newborn: 0 to 2 mm/hr
• Neonatal to puberty: 3 to 13 mm/hr

Note: mm/hr. = millimeters per hour

What abnormal results mean:

An increased ESR rate may be due to:

• Anemia
• Kidney disease
• Osteomyelitis
• Pregnancy
• Rheumatic fever
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Syphilis
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Thyroid disease
• Tuberculosis
• Other inflammatory conditions

Very high ESR levels occur with:

• Giant cell arteritis
• Hyperfibrinogenemia (increased fibrinogen levels in the blood)
• Multiple myeloma
• Macroglobulinemia - primary
• Necrotizing vasculitis
• Polymyalgia rheumatica

Lower-than-normal levels occur with:

• Congestive heart failure
• Hyperviscosity
• Hypofibrinogenemia (decreased fibrinogen levels)
• Low plasma protein (due to liver or kidney disease)
• Polycythemia
• Sickle cell anemia

Additional conditions that may affect test results:

• Allergic vasculitis
• Atrial myxoma
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Endometritis
• Eosinophilic fasciitis
• Erysipelas
• Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
• Legionnaire's disease
• Osteomyelitis
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Pericarditis after a heart attack
• Retroperitoneal fibrosis
• Skin lesion of blastomycosis
• Subacute thyroiditis
• Scleroderma

• Review Date: 6/18/2007
• Reviewed By: Steve Lee, DO, Rheumatology Fellow, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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