Rapid plasma reagin (RPR) card test. A screening method for treponemal disease.

The specific FTA-ABS and TPI tests are too costly and time-consuming to be used as screening procedures for treponemal disease. The VDRL test detects reagin, the antibody amongst others produced in syphilis and yaws and also present in a wide variety of disorders giving the biological false positive reaction. The RPR card test (Portnoy, Garson, and Smith, 1957; Reed, 1965), like the VDRL test, uses cardiolipin antigen, but owing to the presence of added carbon particles flocculation in a reactive specimen can be read without the aid ofa microscope; a proportion of biological false positive reactions can be expected, and the two tests therefore provide a screening procedure only. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the RPR test in comparison with the VDRL, CWR, and RPCF tests, positive results being further investigated by the FTA-ABS and TPI tests.