Interpretation of positive serological tests for syphilis in pregnancy.

Serological tests for syphilis in pregnancy. False and missed positive reactions.

An unusual case of serological discord.

" Serological discord" or " serological dissociation" are expressive terms used by French workers to describe the finding that different serological tests for syphilis give variable results on the same specimen of serum. When a battery consisting of a number of tests is used, an occasional discord among the results is inevitable and may render interpretation of the results difficult. It is most...

Serological screening tests for syphilis in pregnancy: results of a five year study (1983-87) in the Oxford region.

Between 1983 and 1987, 62 out of 76519 pregnancies in 51 mothers had a positive miniaturised Treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay (TPHA) test--1 in 1234, or 0.81 per 1000 births. About two thirds of these mothers had syphilis and the remainder non-venereal treponematoses such as yaws or pinta. Antenatal screening identified 13 patients with previously unknown acquired syphilis, 11 of whom...

Are serological tests of value in diagnosing and monitoring response to treatment of syphilis in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus?

To assess the value of serological tests in diagnosing and monitoring the response to treatment of syphilis in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), case notes of eight homosexual men with a history of treated syphilis, positive reactions to serological tests for syphilis, and documented subsequent conversion to HIV seropositivity were studied. No change was noted in se...

A Century of syphilis serology

Introduction The year 2006 represented the centenary of the first diagnostic serological test, the Wasserman complement fixation test for the diagnosis of syphilis. In this article I will relate some developments I have observed in the day-to-day running of a diagnostic serology laboratory over the thirty years preceding this centenary. I have assumed some background knowledge and elected to di...