Comparison of a Treponema pallidum IgM immunoblot with a 19S fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test for the diagnosis of congenital syphilis

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2007 Sep;59(1):61-6. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2007.04.021. Epub 2007 Jul 26.

Abstract

We compared an in-house Treponema pallidum IgM immunoblot (IB) with a 19S fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (IgM) test during routine use for the diagnosis of congenital syphilis (CS) in a national reference laboratory in a nonendemic setting. The overall agreement between the assays was high (97%), and 19S positive samples had at least 2 reactive bands in the IB. The high agreement is mainly caused by the large number of negative results (95%). If the 19S is taken as the gold standard, the estimate sensitivity of the IB was at least 88% with a specificity of 97.2%. Analysis of the discrepancies revealed that the IB was positive with 1 or 2 specific bands in 2.8% of the cases, whereas 19S was negative, possibly indicating higher sensitivity of the IB. We conclude that the IB is a sensitive method to detect contact with T. pallidum in neonates and can replace the 19S in routine laboratory screening for CS cases.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody-Absorption Test
  • Humans
  • Immunoblotting / methods*
  • Immunoglobulin M / analysis
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical
  • Pregnancy
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Syphilis, Congenital / diagnosis*
  • Syphilis, Congenital / immunology
  • Treponema pallidum / immunology*

Substances

  • Immunoglobulin M