[Comparison of the Waaler-Rose reaction and the optimized Singer-Plotz reaction]

The latex reaction according to Singer & Plotz, an optimised version of the same employing heating at 56 degrees C for 24 hr, and the modified Rose-Waaler test were used to determine rheumatoid factor in the serum of 65 subjects, including 33 with rheumatic and joint diseases, 22 with liver diseases, and 10 presumed to be normal. This optimised latex test is put forward as a supplement to high sensitivity of the simple latex test, and the high specificity of the Rose-Waaler test. In the series examined, it gave results whose clinical comparability was at least on a par with that provided by the Rose-Waaler test.