Autoimmune diseases are characterized by the process which is iniatiated and maintained by an inappropriate immunological reaction of the organism leading to the lesion of tissues or organs or the disorder of their function. Autoantibodies or autoreactive T lymphocytes cause the damage of celis or tissues. Up-to-date, there is no uniform point of view to the taxonomy of autoimmune diseases but they are usually divided according to the extent of the lesion to systém ones (organ nonspecific) which affect more organs and to localized ones (organ specific) which affect usually one organ. Predominantly autoimmune diseases are currently the frequent cause of disability. Generally, autoimmune diseases form a very extensive group, therefore only a simplif ied review of autoimmune diseases and their assessment from the point of view of Review Medicine is presented in this article. The most frequent systém autoimmune diseases are accompanied with the brief description of diagnostics, functional assessment and treatment possibilities.

        Key words: autoantibodies - organ nonspecific autoimmune diseases - organ specific autoimmune diseases