TY - JOUR KW - Erythema Nodosum KW - False Positive Reactions KW - Female KW - Fluorescent Antibody Technique KW - Hemagglutination Tests KW - Humans KW - leprosy KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Syphilis KW - Syphilis Serodiagnosis AU - Murray K A AB -

Between 1975 and 1979, 630 patients with leprosy of Hansen's disease (HD) were examined clinically and screened for syphilis using both the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) and fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) tests. Seropositive syphilis was found more frequently than in the general population; 10% were true positive reactors with a reactive RPR, a reactive FTA-ABS, and historical, clinical, and/or postmortem evidence of syphilis. Only 8% exhibited false positive tests for reagin with a negative FTA-ABS and neither historical nor clinical evidence of treponemal infection. Among those with FTA-ABS test reactivity, highly positive FTA-ABS immunofluorescence (+3, +4) was highly predictive for syphilis (94.7%). Seropositive HD patients with both RPR and FTA-ABS reactivity should be seriously evaluated for syphilis and, if not yet treated, they should be treated.

BT - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association C1 -

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6749704?dopt=Abstract

DA - 1982 Jun IS - 2 J2 - Int. J. Lepr. Other Mycobact. Dis. LA - eng N2 -

Between 1975 and 1979, 630 patients with leprosy of Hansen's disease (HD) were examined clinically and screened for syphilis using both the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) and fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) tests. Seropositive syphilis was found more frequently than in the general population; 10% were true positive reactors with a reactive RPR, a reactive FTA-ABS, and historical, clinical, and/or postmortem evidence of syphilis. Only 8% exhibited false positive tests for reagin with a negative FTA-ABS and neither historical nor clinical evidence of treponemal infection. Among those with FTA-ABS test reactivity, highly positive FTA-ABS immunofluorescence (+3, +4) was highly predictive for syphilis (94.7%). Seropositive HD patients with both RPR and FTA-ABS reactivity should be seriously evaluated for syphilis and, if not yet treated, they should be treated.

PY - 1982 SP - 152 EP - 8 T2 - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association TI - Syphilis in patients with Hansen's disease. UR - http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v50n2a04.pdf VL - 50 SN - 0148-916X ER -