Comparison of methods in the serologic diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is caused by the larval form of Echinococcus granulosus. Clinical, radiologic, pathologic, and serologic findings should be evaluated together for the diagnosis of CE. The sensitivity and specificity of serologic tests may vary depending on the method used. In this study, we aimed to detect IgG antibodies specific to E. granulosus using indirect hemagglutination (IHA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), indirect fluorescent antibodies (IFA) and western blot (WB) tests. Methods: In our study, the serum samples of 79 patients sent to our laboratory with suspicion of CE were studied using two different commercial IHA tests, ELISA, IFA and WB test. The test results were evaluated with pathology and radyology reports as the gold standard. Results: Of all the patients, 56 (71%) were female and 23 (29%) were male. There was a statistically significant difference in females (χ2=4.67, p=0.03). Out of 79 patients Siemens IHA, Fumouze IHA, ELISA, IFA and WB test were positive as 35 (44.3%), 39 (49.4%), 46 (58.2%), 45 (57%) and 43 (54.4%), respectively The sensitivity and specificity of Siemens and Fumouze commercial IHAs, ELISA, IFA and WB test were 67.3-96.3%, 78.9-96.3% 86.6-92.6%, 84.62-92.59% and 75-96.3%, respectively. Conclusion: There were statistically significant differences in all five methods (p<0,001). While the tests with the highest specificity were IHAs and WB, the test with the highest sensitivity was the ELISA test. It was concluded that IHA and ELISA tests were more practical in practice because of their greater applicability.