title: Assessment of chemiluminescence and PCR effectiveness in relation to conventional serological tests for the diagnosis of Chagas' disease.
abstract: While testing 414 sera for the diagnosis of Chagas' disease, the conventional reactions of indirect hemagglutination, indirect immunofluorescence and the immunosorbent assay showed a sensitivity of 95.7%, 100% and 98.2% and a specificity of 98%, 98% and 96.4%, respectively, and an excellent association using Fisher's exact test. Chemiluminescence presented 100% sensitivity and 89.6% specificity, while PCR showed 100% specificity and 1.2% sensitivity. It is believed that the three conventional serological reactions are still adequate for diagnosing Chagas' disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG.
authors.forename: Aulísia Maria Vieira
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.forename: Hélida Monteiro
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: de Andrade
authors.forename: Semíramis Jamil Hadad
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: do Monte
authors.forename: Vicente de Paulo Coelho Peixoto
authors.initials: Vde P
authors.lastname: de Toledo
authors.forename: Tânia Mara Pinto Dabés
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Guimarães
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology