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Syphilis AntibodyAka: Syphilis Serology, Syphilis Screening, Syphilis False Positive

Indication
1. Syphilis (Treponema pallidum) detection
2. Confirmation of positive Screening Test
Background
1. Antigen Extracts from beef heart (cardiolipin)
  1. Non-specific Syphilis antibodies bind cardiolipin
Tests for detection of Treponemal Pallidum Antibody
1. Non-Treponemal Derived Substance precipitates Antibody
  1. Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL)
  2. Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR)
  3. Automated Reagin Test (ART)
  4. Standard Test for Syphilis (STS)
2. Treponemal antigen precipitates Antibody
  1. Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody (FTA-ABS)
    1. Sensitivity: 80%
  2. Microhemagglutination - Treponema pallidum (MHA-TP)
    1. Sensitivity: 65% to 70%
False Positives (Seen with the non-Treponemal Tests)
1. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
2. Malaria
3. Infectious Mononucleosis
4. Infectious Hepatitis
5. Post-vaccination state
6. Leprosy
7. Brucellosis
8. Atypical Pneumonia
9. Miliary Tuberculosis
10. Typhus
11. Pregnancy
12. Related Treponemal infection
  1. Yaws
  2. Pinta
  3. Bejel
Reference
1. Bakerman (1984) ABCs of Interpretive Lab Data, p. 392
2. Larsen (1995) Clin Microbiol Rev 8:1

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 5/10/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.