[Value of the 19S IgM FTA ABS test in the diagnosis and therapy of syphilis. Personal experiences and remarks on the method]

Abstract

Sera from patients with syphilis in various stages (525 sera specimens from untreated and 496 from treated patients) were tested, as were 17 sera specimens from infants with suspected neonatal syphilis. The tests employed for the detection of treponemal and reaginic antibodies were IgG-FTA-ABS, IgM-FTA-ABS, 19S-IgM-FTA-ABS, TPHA, VDRL and the complement fixation test. The purpose of this study was to see whether in all cases the demonstration of antitreponemal antibodies of the IgM class is a reliable criterion for treatment of seropositive patients. This was shown to be valid in nearly all cases where specific IgM was demonstrated by the 19S-IgM-FTA-ABS test. Possible biological or technical factors leading to erroneous results of this test are discussed.