Each new flocculation test for syphilis is designed to meet the need for a test which can be standardized, reproducible, rapidly and simply performed, and characterized by acceptable sensitivity and specificity. Sensitivity of a test refers to the ability to react in the presence of the disease, i.e. syphilis; specificity refers to the ability not to react in the absence of the disease. Harris,...

The aim of this study is to present the status of transfusion –transmitted infections among the apparently healthy donors so as to increase the awareness of complications of blood transfusion and make the clinicians more vigilant with regard to judicious use of blood. A total of 5008 units of donor’s blood was screened from January 2006 to December 2008 at blood bank of People’s Hospital, Bhopa...

We report a case of a patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) complicated by the antiphospholipid syndrome and recurrent episodes of transverse myelitis. Transverse myelitis is a rare complication of SLE and most cases are associated with the presence of an antiphospholipid antibody (APA). The pathogenic mechanism oftransverse myelitis in this condition may result from a vasculitic proc...

A 35-year-old man presented with a 3-week history of asymptomatic ulcerated lesions in the tongue (Fig. 1). He developed erythematous papules in the trunk and legs at the same time. The patient had no other systemic symptoms and reported having had unprotected sexual intercourse. Testing for the human immunodeficiency virus was positive. VDRL testing was positive with a titer of at least 1:64. ...

Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), notably the lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies, are the serological hallmarks of the antiphospholipid syndrome. Thrombosis and pregnancy complications are the most prominent clinical manifestations of this syndrome. This paper provides the clinician with guidelines for ordering and interpreting tests for aPL and discusses consequences for treat...

~ O I L . I Z , Rhode Island 02852 failure. The carotid pulses were brisk, but collapsed in midsystole. The cardiac apical impulse was hyperkinetic with a diffuse precordial systolic thrill. A third heart sound was present. There was a grade 4 of 6 harsh holosystolic murmur maximal at the left sternal border in the third interspace, but audible across the entire precordium. A grade 1 of 6 decre...

The microhaemagglutination assay for Treponema pallidum antibodies (MHA:TP-CSF), the Veneral Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL-CSF), and the fluorescent treponemal antibody (FTA-CSF) tests were used to detect treponemal antibodies in 3157 samples of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with syphilis, with neurological, metabolic, or immunological disorders, and with undetermined diagnoses. An agre...