根据自身免疫性疾病协调委员会（ADCC）的数据，美国有1470万至2350万人--占人口的8%--受到自身免疫性疾病的影响。自身免疫性疾病是一个由100多种慢性疾病组成的家族，这些疾病的发生是由于免疫系统的潜在缺陷导致身体攻击自身的器官、组织和细胞。在《自身免疫性疾病的诊断标准》中，编辑们将著名专家对100多种自身免疫性疾病的评论收集在一本综合手册中，这些疾病分为两大类，即系统性和器官特异性自身免疫性疾病。本书介绍了这些疾病的当代概况，特别强调了诊断。每一章都包含了主治医生和科学家所需的基本信息，以了解特定自身免疫性疾病的定义、诊断标准和治疗方法。

According to the Autoimmune Diseases Coordinating Committee (ADCC), between 14.7 and 23.5 million people in the USA–up to eight percent of the population–are affected by autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are a family of more than 100 chronic, and often disabling, illnesses that develop when underlying defects in the immune system lead the body to attack its own organs, tissues, and cells. In Diagnostic Criteria in Autoimmune Disease, the editors have gathered in a comprehensive handbook a critical review, by renowned experts, of more than 100 autoimmune diseases, divided into two main groups, namely systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases. A contemporary overview of these conditions with special emphasis on diagnosis is presented. Each chapter contains the essential information required by attending physicians as well as bench scientists to understand the definition of a specific autoimmune disease, the diagnostic criteria, and the treatment.