Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link
Volume 21, Number 1—January 2015
Dispatch

Use of Treponema pallidum PCR in Testing of Ulcers for Diagnosis of Primary Syphilis1

Angèle Gayet-AgeronComments to Author , Patrice Sednaoui, Stephan Lautenschlager, Tristan Ferry, Laurence Toutous-Trellu, Matthias Cavassini, Fatima Yassir, Begoña Martinez de Tejada, Stéphane Emonet, Christophe Combescure, Jacques Schrenzel, and Thomas Perneger
Author affiliations: University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland (A. Gayet-Ageron, L. Toutous-Trellu, B. Martinez de Tejada, S. Emonet, C. Combescure, J. Schrenzel, T. Perneger); Institut Alfred Fournier, Paris, France (P. Sednaoui); Triemlispital, Zurich, Switzerland (S. Lautenschlager); Hospices civils de Lyon, Lyon, France (T. Ferry, F. Yassir); Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland (M. Cavassini)

Main Article

Table 2

Summary of the various indices of performance of DFM compared with Tp-PCR or an enhanced definition for diagnosis of primary syphilis*

Reference testing, n = 170 Sensitivity (95% CI) Specificity (95% CI) Likelihood ratios (95% CI)
κ coefficient Post-test probability (95% CI)
Positive Negative If Tp-PCR is positive (PPV) If Tp-PCR is negative (1 − NPV)
Tp-PCR 69.8% (53.9%–82.8%) 98.4% (94.4%–99.6%) 44.30 (11.05–177.68) 0.31 (0.20–0.48) 0.74 (0.62–0.87) 93.8% (79.2%–99.2%) 9.4% (5.6%–15.4%)
Enhanced definition 66.7% (51.6%–79.6%) 100.0% (96.9%–100.0%) 163.33 (10.2–2615.37) 0.33 (0.22–0.50) 0.74 (0.62–0.86) 100.0% (89.3%–100.0%) 11.6% (7.3%–18.0%)

*Tp-PCR, Treponema pallidum PCR; DFM, darkfield microscopy; PPV, positive predictive value; NVP, negative predictive value.

Main Article

1Preliminary results from this study were presented at the 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, September 10–13, 2013, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Page created: December 19, 2014
Page updated: December 19, 2014
Page reviewed: December 19, 2014
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
file_external