Evaluation of the hemagglutination treponemal test for syphilis.
The sensitivity and specificity of the hemagglutination treponemal test for syphilis (HATTS) was compared with the fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption test (FTA-ABS) with 491 sera. Medical histories were obtained for 153 patients with seroreactivity in either treponemal test. Overall correlation with patient history was 96.7% for the FTA-ABS and 93.9% for the HATTS. False-negative HATTS occurred in primary, late-latent (greater than 2 years), and treated syphilis. The reproducibility of the HATTS and FTA-ABS is equivalent. HATTS is an acceptable treponemal confirmatory test for syphilis, but the FTA-ABS should be used to resolve diagnostic discrepancies.
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000276:immunology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic