title: Recent observations on the serology of syphilis.
abstract: Routine screening of 404 742 sera by the automated micro-haemagglutination assay (AMHA-TP) and the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test showed that 9848 specimens gave a reactive result to one of the three assays. Reactive results were confirmed by the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) test. The possibility of false-positive results varied from 0.04-0.38% of all specimens or from 1.7-15.7% of reactive sera. The VDRL test failed to detect reactivity in 56.54% of sera from patients who had previously been infected with Treponema pallidum. The importance of routine testing by the AMHA-TP is illustrated by the detection of four patients with mesaortitis and two with active neurosyphilis among a selected group of 54 patients who had non-reactive results to the VDRL test. Testing of cerebrospinal fluid specimens by the AMHA-TP test produced more specific results than by the other two tests.
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001322:Autoanalysis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D013587:Syphilis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial