Abstract
Sera from 290 hospital patients were tested to compare the sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of the hemagglutination treponemal test for syphilis (HATTS) with the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test (FTA-ABS). Complete agreement was obtained between the methods when 142 syphilitic sera from patients with various stages of syphilis were tested. By using clinical histories, the specificity with 148 nonsyphilitic sera was determined to be 100% for the HATTS and 96.6% (143 of 148) for the FTA-ABS. Satisfactory reproducibility was obtained with both methods. Compared with the FTA-ABS, the HATTS was more specific, easier, and more economical to perform. We therefore recommend the HATTS as a suitable alternative to the FTA-ABS.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Cox P. M., Logan L. C., Norins L. C. Automated, quantitative microhemagglutination assay for Treponema pallidum antibodies. Appl Microbiol. 1969 Sep;18(3):485–489. doi: 10.1128/am.18.3.485-489.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hambie E. A., Larsen S. A., Perryman M. W., Pettit D. E., Feeley J. C. Heated versus unheated sera in the hemagglutination treponemal test for syphilis. J Clin Microbiol. 1982 Feb;15(2):337–338. doi: 10.1128/jcm.15.2.337-338.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jaffe H. W., Larsen S. A., Jones O. G., Dans P. E. Hemagglutination tests for syphilis antibody. Am J Clin Pathol. 1978 Aug;70(2):230–233. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/70.2.230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larsen S. A., Hambie E. A., Pettit D. E., Perryman M. W., Kraus S. J. Specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility among the fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption test, the microhemagglutination assay for Treponema pallidum antibodies, and the hemagglutination treponemal test for syphilis. J Clin Microbiol. 1981 Oct;14(4):441–445. doi: 10.1128/jcm.14.4.441-445.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Peter C. R., Thompson M. A., Wilson D. L. False-positive reactions in the rapid plasma reagin-card, fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorbed, and hemagglutination treponemal syphilis serology tests. J Clin Microbiol. 1979 Mar;9(3):369–372. doi: 10.1128/jcm.9.3.369-372.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wentworth B. B., Thompson M. A., Peter C. R., Bawdon R. E., Wilson D. L. Comparison of a hemagglutination treponemal test for syphilis (HATTS) with other serologic methods for the diagnosis of syphilis. Sex Transm Dis. 1978 Jul-Sep;5(3):103–114. doi: 10.1097/00007435-197807000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]