The Rheumatoid Factor

Abstract

The observation that certain human sera had the property of agglutinating sheep erythrocytes previously sensitized with specific antibody has been made sporadically since the turn of the century. Only in 1940, however, was this
property shown to belong, in the main, to sera from patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

Because of the difficulties of communication in war-time, Waaler’s work remained largely unknown. In 1948, Rose and his colleagues (21) in New York, unaware of Waaler’s observations, “rediscovered” the phenomenon and described a diagnostic test, similar in principle to Waaler’s. The observations of Waaler and of Rose and his colleagues have now been amply confirmed and the Rose Waaler test, or more usually one of the numerous modifications thereof, is used routinely as a diagnostic aid in rheumatoid arthritis.