HEPATIC CIRRHOSIS SHOWING FALSE-POSITIVE SERUM C-REACTIVE PROTEIN REACTION

A 58-year-old male who had been diagnosed as hepatic cirrhosis four ye ars previously was admitted to our hospital because his serum C-reacti ve protein (CRP) level had gradually risen, reaching 139 mg/dI. No inf lammation findings were observed subjectively or objectively. Close ex amination revealed his CRP reaction to be false positive. His serum CR P showed positive only in a latex agglutination method using goat anti -CRP IgG. This false-positive reaction was thought to be owing to the abnormally glycosylated IgM, which has an affinity for the goat serum IgG.