Related articles: Increase in the ESR
Definition
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a blood index that provides information on the presence, or not, of inflammation. The ESR, in particular, measures the speed with which the erythrocytes (red blood cells) of a blood sample - made incoagulable - settle at the bottom of the tube that contains it. The facing is expressed in millimeters of sediment produced in an hour.
Many pathological processes can lead to an increase in the ESR, so this index must be considered non-specific and must be interpreted in the context of other specific investigations. A high erythrocyte sedimentation rate can be found, for example, in diseases of an inflammatory nature (in particular: infections of various kinds, rheumatic and autoimmune diseases), in myocardial infarction, in anemia and in some cancer processes.
Possible Causes * of Increased ESR
- Anemia
- Giant cell arteritis
- Arthritis
- Gouty Arthritis
- Reactive arthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Breast cancer
- Chikungunya
- cholecystitis
- Ulcerative colitis
- chondrocalcinosis
- Infective endocarditis
- Marburg hemorrhagic fever
- Rheumatic fever
- Gout
- Pregnancy
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Hyperthyroidism
- Leukemia
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Malaria
- Chagas disease
- Kawasaki disease
- Meningitis
- Myocarditis
- myxoma
- Mononucleosis
- Crohn's disease
- Nephritis
- Osteitis
- Osteomyelitis
- Pancreatitis
- Pericarditis
- PFAPA
- pyelonephritis
- Rheumatic polymyalgia
- Pneumonia
- Psoriasis
- Syphilis
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Subacute thyroiditis
- thrombophlebitis
- Tuberculosis
- Lung cancer
- Cardiac tumors
- Burns
