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. 1994 Nov;32(11):2682–2685. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.11.2682-2685.1994

Diagnosis of Chlamydia trachomatis infections in men and women by testing first-void urine by ligase chain reaction.

M A Chernesky 1, D Jang 1, H Lee 1, J D Burczak 1, H Hu 1, J Sellors 1, S J Tomazic-Allen 1, J B Mahony 1
PMCID: PMC264142  PMID: 7852556

Abstract

From April to September 1993, 305 men and 447 women in Hamilton, Canada, consented to the collection of a urethral or cervical swab, respectively, for culture and 20 ml of first-void urine (FVU) for testing by the enzyme immunoassay Chlamydiazyme and by ligase chain reaction (LCR) in the form of a kit from Abbott Laboratories called LCx Chlamydia trachomatis. Evaluation of test performance with each specimen was calculated on the basis of an expanded "gold standard" of a patient found to be positive by culture or by a confirmed nonculture test. By using this expanded standard, the prevalence of infection was determined to be 6% (27/447) for the women and 18.4% (56/305) for the men. LCR testing of FVU in both studies was the most sensitive approach (96%). The performance of Chlamydiazyme was as follows: cervical swab, 78.3% sensitivity; female FVU, 37% sensitivity; and male FVU, 67.9% sensitivity. Culture was the least sensitive approach to diagnosis: female cervix, 55.6%; and male urethra, 37.5%. LCR testing of FVU from men or women diagnosed the greatest number of genitourinary tract infections with no false positives.

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Selected References

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