تويت
Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate
Definition
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), or sedimentation rate (sed rate), is a measure of the settling of red blood cells in a tube of blood during one hour. The rate is an indication of inflammation and increases in many diseases.
Purpose
ESR is increased in rheumatoid diseases, most infections, and in cancer. An advanced rate doesn't diagnose a specific disease, but it does indicate that an underlying disease may be present.
A physician can use ESR to monitor a person with an associated disease. When the disease worsens, the ESR increases; when the disease improves, the ESR decreases. The ESR doesn't always follow the course of cancer.
ESR is called an acute-phase reactant test, meaning that it reacts to acute conditions in the body, such as infection or trauma. The rate increase follows a rise in temperature and white blood cells count, peaks after several days, and usually lasts longer than the elevated temperature or white blood cells count.
Precautions
The ESR should not be used to screen healthy persons for disease.
Description
The ESR test is a simple test dating back to the ancient Greeks. A specific amount of diluted, unclotted blood is placed in a special narrow tube and left undisturbed for exactly one hour. The red cells settle towards the bottom of the tube, and the pale yellow liquid (plasma) rises to the top. After 60 minutes, measurements are taken of the distance the red cells traveled to settle at the bottom of the tube. Two methods, the Westergren and the Wintrobe, are used by laboratories; each method produces slightly different results. Most laboratories use the Westergren method.
Normally red cells don't settle far toward the bottom of the tube. Many diseases make extra or abnormal proteins that cause the red cells to move close together, stack up, and form a column (rouleaux). In a group, red cells are heavier and fall faster. The faster they fall, the further they settle, and the higher the ESR.
The ESR test is covered by insurance when medically necessary. Results are usually available the same or following day.
Preparation
This test requires 7mL-10 mL of blood. A healthcare worker ties a tourniquet on the patient's upper arm, locates a vein in the inner elbow region, and inserts a needle into that vein. Vacuum action draws the blood through the needle into an attached tube. Collection of the sample takes only a few minutes.
Aftercare
Discomfort or bruising may occur at the puncture site. Pressure applied to the puncture site until the bleeding stops reduces bruising. Warm packs to the puncture site relieve discomfort. The patient may feel dizzy or faint.
Normal results
A normal value does not rule out disease. Normal values for the Westergren method are: Men 0 mm/hour-15 mm/hour; women 0 mm/hour-20 mm/hour; and children 0 mm/hour-10 mm/hour.
Abnormal results
The highest ESR levels are usually seen in a cancer of a certain type of white blood cell (multiple myeloma) and rheumatoid disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Many other diseases also increase the ESR: infection, kidney disease, anemia, diseases involving white blood cells, cancer, and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Any disease that changes the shape and size of red blood cells decreases the ESR. Distorted cells, such as with sickle cell disease, do not stack, and consequently do not settle far, even in the presence of an ESR-associated disease. Diseases that cause the body to make less protein or extra red blood cells also decrease the ESR.
Key terms
Acute phase reactant — A substance in the blood that increases as a response to an acute conditions such as infection, injury, tissue destruction, some cancers, burns, surgery, or trauma.
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) — The distance that red blood cells settle in a tube of blood in one hour. It is an indication of inflammation.
Rouleaux — The stacking up of red blood cells, caused by extra or abnormal proteins in the blood that decrease the normal distance red cells maintain between each other.
Resources
Periodicals
Saadeh, Constantine. "The Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate: Old and New Clinical Applications." Southern Medical Journal March 1998: 220-255.
Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
rate (rāt) the speed or frequency with which an event or circumstance occurs per unit of time, population, or other standard of comparison.
________________________________________
basal metabolic rate an expression of the rate at which oxygen is used by body cells, or the calculated equivalent heat production by the body, in a fasting subject at complete rest. Abbreviated BMR.
birth rate the number of births in a specified area during a defined period for the total population, often further qualified as to which portion of the population is being examined.
case fatality rate the ratio of the number of deaths caused by a specified disease to the number of diagnosed cases of that disease.
circulation rate the amount of blood pumped through the body by the heart per unit time.
death rate an expression of the number of deaths in a population at risk during one year. The crude death r. is the ratio of the number of deaths to the total population of an area; the age-specific death r. is the ratio of the number of deaths in a specific age group to the number of persons in that age group; the cause-specific death r. is the ratio of the number of deaths due to a specified cause to the total population.
dose rate the amount of any agent administered per unit of time.
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) the rate at which erythrocytes sediment from a well-mixed specimen of venous blood, as measured by the distance that the top of a column of erythrocytes falls in a specified time interval under specified conditions.
fatality rate case fatality r.
fertility rate a measure of fertility in a specified population over a specified period of time, particularly the general fertility r., the number of live births in a geographic area in a year per 1000 women of childbearing age.
fetal death rate the ratio of the number of fetal deaths in one year to the total number of both live births and fetal deaths in that year.
five-year survival rate an expression of the number of survivors with no trace of disease five years after each has been diagnosed or treated for the same disease.
glomerular filtration rate (GFR) an expression of the quantity of glomerular filtrate formed each minute in the nephrons of both kidneys, usually measured by the rate of clearance of creatinine.
growth rate an expression of the increase in size of an organic object per unit of time.
heart rate the number of contractions of the cardiac ventricles per unit of time.
incidence rate the probability of developing a particular disease during a given period of time; the numerator is the number of new cases during the specified time period and the denominator is the population at risk during the period.
morbidity rate an inexact term that can mean either the incidence rate or the prevalence rate.
mortality rate death r.
prevalence rate the number of people in a population who have a disease at a given time: the numerator is the number of existing cases of disease at a specified time and the denominator is the total population.
pulse rate the number of pulsations noted in a peripheral artery per unit of time.
respiration rate the number of movements of the chest wall per unit of time, indicative of inhalation and exhalation.
sedimentation rate the rate at which a sediment is deposited in a given volume of solution, especially when subjected to the action of a centrifuge.
stillbirth rate fetal death r.
Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers. © 2007 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
erythrocyte sedimentation rate
n. Abbr. ESR
See sedimentation rate.
The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),
the rate at which red blood cells settle out in a tube of unclotted blood, expressed in millimeters per hour. Blood is collected in an anticoagulant and allowed to form a sediment in a calibrated glass column. At the end of 1 hour the laboratory technician measures the distance the erythrocytes have fallen in the tube. Elevated sedimentation rates are not specific for any disorder but most commonly indicate the presence of inflammation. Inflammation causes an alteration of the blood proteins, which makes the red blood cells aggregate, becoming heavier than normal. The speed with which they fall to the bottom of the tube corresponds to the degree of inflammation. Serial evaluations of erythrocyte sedimentation rate are useful in monitoring the course of inflammatory activity in rheumatic diseases, and, when performed with a white blood cell count, can indicate infection. Certain noninflammatory conditions, such as pregnancy, are also characterized by high sedimentation rates. The Westergren ESR is determined with a 200-mm Westergren tube. Values are higher for women in both methods and vary according to the method used. Normal findings by the Westergren method are up to 20 mm/hr for females and up to 15 mm/hr for males. Other diseases which alter blood proteins can also be called abnormal ESRs. Also called (informal) sedimentation rate. See also inflammation.
Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.
________________________________________
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ēˈ•riˑ•thrō•sīt seˈ•di•men•tāˑ•sh n rātˑ),
n a measure of erythrocytes settling in a tube of blood within 1 hour. Used to diagnose infectious and inflammatory diseases as well as tumors, arthritis, heart conditions, and other disorders.
Jonas: Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (c) 2005, Elsevier.
________________________________________
erythrocyte ( rith´rōsīt),
n a red blood cell; a nonnucleated, circular, biconcave, discoid, hemoglobin-containing, oxygen-carrying formed element circulating in the blood.
erythrocyte count,
n the number of red blood cells per cubic millimeter of blood.
erythrocyte indices,
n.pr the standard values of red blood cell numbers, morphologic characteristics, and behavior in comprehensive hematologic laboratory testing.
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),
n the rate at which red blood cells settle in a pipette of unclotted blood, measured in millimeters per hour. It is used as an index of inflammation.
________________________________________
rate,
n measurement of a thing by its ratio or given in relation to some standard.
rate, basal metabolic,
n See basal metabolic rate.
rate, DEF,
n an expression of dental caries experience in primary teeth. The DEF rate is calculated by adding the number of decayed primary teeth requiring filling (D), decayed primary teeth requiring extraction (E), and primary teeth successfully filled (F). Missing primary teeth are not included in the count because whether they were extracted because of caries or exfoliated normally is often impossible to determine.
rate, DMF index,
n a method of classifying the condition of the teeth based on the number of teeth in a given oral cavity that are decayed, missing, or indicated for removal and of those filled or bearing restorations.
rate, erythrocyte sedimentation
n the rate of settling of erythrocytes by gravity under conditions in which all factors affecting the rate are corrected, standardized, or eliminated except for alterations in the physicochemical properties of the plasma proteins. These alterations are the basis for interpretation of the rate. There is an increase in the rate in most infections. Sedimentation velocity is useful in prognosis to determine recovery from infection. Normal values vary with the method used in the determination.
rate, heart,
n the rate of the heartbeat, expressed as the number of beats per minute. The heart rate is reflected in the pulse rate. The cardiac rate of contraction is described as normal (70 beats/min), rapid (more than 100 beats/min), or slow (less than 55 beats/min). Disturbances in heart rate and rhythm may be paroxysmal or persistent. Descriptive terms are
tachycardia (increased, shallow heart rate to compensate for inadequate cardiac output) and
brady-cardia (slow, firm heart rate caused by cardiac sinus mechanisms and the vagal effect over the sympathetic innervation of the heart).
rate, survival,
n the percentage of survivals within a certain study; in dentistry, it refers to the percentage of implants that are functioning within acceptable standards.
Mosby's Dental Dictionary, 2nd edition. © 2008 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
erythrocyte sedimentation rate
'sed' rate, ESR A test that measures the rate at which RBCs in venous blood settle to the bottom of a test tube, a nonspecific indicator of inflammation; ESR ↑ in collagen vascular disease, neoplasia, pregnancy, hyperproteinemia; ↓ in polycythemia, microcytosis, sickle cell anemia; it is used to monitor Pts with rheumatic diseases, as therapy may require frequent adjustment of doses. See C-reactive protein.
McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
Link to this page:
Definition
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), or sedimentation rate (sed rate), is a measure of the settling of red blood cells in a tube of blood during one hour. The rate is an indication of inflammation and increases in many diseases.
Purpose
ESR is increased in rheumatoid diseases, most infections, and in cancer. An advanced rate doesn't diagnose a specific disease, but it does indicate that an underlying disease may be present.
A physician can use ESR to monitor a person with an associated disease. When the disease worsens, the ESR increases; when the disease improves, the ESR decreases. The ESR doesn't always follow the course of cancer.
ESR is called an acute-phase reactant test, meaning that it reacts to acute conditions in the body, such as infection or trauma. The rate increase follows a rise in temperature and white blood cells count, peaks after several days, and usually lasts longer than the elevated temperature or white blood cells count.
Precautions
The ESR should not be used to screen healthy persons for disease.
Description
The ESR test is a simple test dating back to the ancient Greeks. A specific amount of diluted, unclotted blood is placed in a special narrow tube and left undisturbed for exactly one hour. The red cells settle towards the bottom of the tube, and the pale yellow liquid (plasma) rises to the top. After 60 minutes, measurements are taken of the distance the red cells traveled to settle at the bottom of the tube. Two methods, the Westergren and the Wintrobe, are used by laboratories; each method produces slightly different results. Most laboratories use the Westergren method.
Normally red cells don't settle far toward the bottom of the tube. Many diseases make extra or abnormal proteins that cause the red cells to move close together, stack up, and form a column (rouleaux). In a group, red cells are heavier and fall faster. The faster they fall, the further they settle, and the higher the ESR.
The ESR test is covered by insurance when medically necessary. Results are usually available the same or following day.
Preparation
This test requires 7mL-10 mL of blood. A healthcare worker ties a tourniquet on the patient's upper arm, locates a vein in the inner elbow region, and inserts a needle into that vein. Vacuum action draws the blood through the needle into an attached tube. Collection of the sample takes only a few minutes.
Aftercare
Discomfort or bruising may occur at the puncture site. Pressure applied to the puncture site until the bleeding stops reduces bruising. Warm packs to the puncture site relieve discomfort. The patient may feel dizzy or faint.
Normal results
A normal value does not rule out disease. Normal values for the Westergren method are: Men 0 mm/hour-15 mm/hour; women 0 mm/hour-20 mm/hour; and children 0 mm/hour-10 mm/hour.
Abnormal results
The highest ESR levels are usually seen in a cancer of a certain type of white blood cell (multiple myeloma) and rheumatoid disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Many other diseases also increase the ESR: infection, kidney disease, anemia, diseases involving white blood cells, cancer, and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Any disease that changes the shape and size of red blood cells decreases the ESR. Distorted cells, such as with sickle cell disease, do not stack, and consequently do not settle far, even in the presence of an ESR-associated disease. Diseases that cause the body to make less protein or extra red blood cells also decrease the ESR.
Key terms
Acute phase reactant — A substance in the blood that increases as a response to an acute conditions such as infection, injury, tissue destruction, some cancers, burns, surgery, or trauma.
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) — The distance that red blood cells settle in a tube of blood in one hour. It is an indication of inflammation.
Rouleaux — The stacking up of red blood cells, caused by extra or abnormal proteins in the blood that decrease the normal distance red cells maintain between each other.
Resources
Periodicals
Saadeh, Constantine. "The Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate: Old and New Clinical Applications." Southern Medical Journal March 1998: 220-255.
Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
rate (rāt) the speed or frequency with which an event or circumstance occurs per unit of time, population, or other standard of comparison.
________________________________________
basal metabolic rate an expression of the rate at which oxygen is used by body cells, or the calculated equivalent heat production by the body, in a fasting subject at complete rest. Abbreviated BMR.
birth rate the number of births in a specified area during a defined period for the total population, often further qualified as to which portion of the population is being examined.
case fatality rate the ratio of the number of deaths caused by a specified disease to the number of diagnosed cases of that disease.
circulation rate the amount of blood pumped through the body by the heart per unit time.
death rate an expression of the number of deaths in a population at risk during one year. The crude death r. is the ratio of the number of deaths to the total population of an area; the age-specific death r. is the ratio of the number of deaths in a specific age group to the number of persons in that age group; the cause-specific death r. is the ratio of the number of deaths due to a specified cause to the total population.
dose rate the amount of any agent administered per unit of time.
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) the rate at which erythrocytes sediment from a well-mixed specimen of venous blood, as measured by the distance that the top of a column of erythrocytes falls in a specified time interval under specified conditions.
fatality rate case fatality r.
fertility rate a measure of fertility in a specified population over a specified period of time, particularly the general fertility r., the number of live births in a geographic area in a year per 1000 women of childbearing age.
fetal death rate the ratio of the number of fetal deaths in one year to the total number of both live births and fetal deaths in that year.
five-year survival rate an expression of the number of survivors with no trace of disease five years after each has been diagnosed or treated for the same disease.
glomerular filtration rate (GFR) an expression of the quantity of glomerular filtrate formed each minute in the nephrons of both kidneys, usually measured by the rate of clearance of creatinine.
growth rate an expression of the increase in size of an organic object per unit of time.
heart rate the number of contractions of the cardiac ventricles per unit of time.
incidence rate the probability of developing a particular disease during a given period of time; the numerator is the number of new cases during the specified time period and the denominator is the population at risk during the period.
morbidity rate an inexact term that can mean either the incidence rate or the prevalence rate.
mortality rate death r.
prevalence rate the number of people in a population who have a disease at a given time: the numerator is the number of existing cases of disease at a specified time and the denominator is the total population.
pulse rate the number of pulsations noted in a peripheral artery per unit of time.
respiration rate the number of movements of the chest wall per unit of time, indicative of inhalation and exhalation.
sedimentation rate the rate at which a sediment is deposited in a given volume of solution, especially when subjected to the action of a centrifuge.
stillbirth rate fetal death r.
Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers. © 2007 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
erythrocyte sedimentation rate
n. Abbr. ESR
See sedimentation rate.
The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),
the rate at which red blood cells settle out in a tube of unclotted blood, expressed in millimeters per hour. Blood is collected in an anticoagulant and allowed to form a sediment in a calibrated glass column. At the end of 1 hour the laboratory technician measures the distance the erythrocytes have fallen in the tube. Elevated sedimentation rates are not specific for any disorder but most commonly indicate the presence of inflammation. Inflammation causes an alteration of the blood proteins, which makes the red blood cells aggregate, becoming heavier than normal. The speed with which they fall to the bottom of the tube corresponds to the degree of inflammation. Serial evaluations of erythrocyte sedimentation rate are useful in monitoring the course of inflammatory activity in rheumatic diseases, and, when performed with a white blood cell count, can indicate infection. Certain noninflammatory conditions, such as pregnancy, are also characterized by high sedimentation rates. The Westergren ESR is determined with a 200-mm Westergren tube. Values are higher for women in both methods and vary according to the method used. Normal findings by the Westergren method are up to 20 mm/hr for females and up to 15 mm/hr for males. Other diseases which alter blood proteins can also be called abnormal ESRs. Also called (informal) sedimentation rate. See also inflammation.
Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.
________________________________________
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ēˈ•riˑ•thrō•sīt seˈ•di•men•tāˑ•sh n rātˑ),
n a measure of erythrocytes settling in a tube of blood within 1 hour. Used to diagnose infectious and inflammatory diseases as well as tumors, arthritis, heart conditions, and other disorders.
Jonas: Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (c) 2005, Elsevier.
________________________________________
erythrocyte ( rith´rōsīt),
n a red blood cell; a nonnucleated, circular, biconcave, discoid, hemoglobin-containing, oxygen-carrying formed element circulating in the blood.
erythrocyte count,
n the number of red blood cells per cubic millimeter of blood.
erythrocyte indices,
n.pr the standard values of red blood cell numbers, morphologic characteristics, and behavior in comprehensive hematologic laboratory testing.
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),
n the rate at which red blood cells settle in a pipette of unclotted blood, measured in millimeters per hour. It is used as an index of inflammation.
________________________________________
rate,
n measurement of a thing by its ratio or given in relation to some standard.
rate, basal metabolic,
n See basal metabolic rate.
rate, DEF,
n an expression of dental caries experience in primary teeth. The DEF rate is calculated by adding the number of decayed primary teeth requiring filling (D), decayed primary teeth requiring extraction (E), and primary teeth successfully filled (F). Missing primary teeth are not included in the count because whether they were extracted because of caries or exfoliated normally is often impossible to determine.
rate, DMF index,
n a method of classifying the condition of the teeth based on the number of teeth in a given oral cavity that are decayed, missing, or indicated for removal and of those filled or bearing restorations.
rate, erythrocyte sedimentation
n the rate of settling of erythrocytes by gravity under conditions in which all factors affecting the rate are corrected, standardized, or eliminated except for alterations in the physicochemical properties of the plasma proteins. These alterations are the basis for interpretation of the rate. There is an increase in the rate in most infections. Sedimentation velocity is useful in prognosis to determine recovery from infection. Normal values vary with the method used in the determination.
rate, heart,
n the rate of the heartbeat, expressed as the number of beats per minute. The heart rate is reflected in the pulse rate. The cardiac rate of contraction is described as normal (70 beats/min), rapid (more than 100 beats/min), or slow (less than 55 beats/min). Disturbances in heart rate and rhythm may be paroxysmal or persistent. Descriptive terms are
tachycardia (increased, shallow heart rate to compensate for inadequate cardiac output) and
brady-cardia (slow, firm heart rate caused by cardiac sinus mechanisms and the vagal effect over the sympathetic innervation of the heart).
rate, survival,
n the percentage of survivals within a certain study; in dentistry, it refers to the percentage of implants that are functioning within acceptable standards.
Mosby's Dental Dictionary, 2nd edition. © 2008 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
erythrocyte sedimentation rate
'sed' rate, ESR A test that measures the rate at which RBCs in venous blood settle to the bottom of a test tube, a nonspecific indicator of inflammation; ESR ↑ in collagen vascular disease, neoplasia, pregnancy, hyperproteinemia; ↓ in polycythemia, microcytosis, sickle cell anemia; it is used to monitor Pts with rheumatic diseases, as therapy may require frequent adjustment of doses. See C-reactive protein.
McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
Link to this page: