Abstract:

Objective: To assess the effect of the quantitative test for treponemal pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) in the diagnosis of congenital syphilis. Methods: TPPA and rapid plasma regain (RPR) in 155 pregnant women with syphilis and their neonates were performed. The positive of TPPA was taken as the diagnosis standard for congenital syphilis at 18 months after birth. Results: Twenty seven cases with congenital syphilis were ultimately diagnosed. The TPPA titer ratio of neonate-mother was greater than 4 in 14 cases, of which 13 were patients with congenital syphilis. The sensitivity of TPPA titer ratio of neonate-mother for the diagnosis of congenital syphilis was 48.15% (95% CI：29.30%-67.00%). The RPR titer ratio of neonate-mother was greater than 4 in 7 cases, of which 6 were the patients with congenital syphilis. The sensitivity of RPR titer ratio of neonate-mother for the diagnosis of congenital syphilis was 22.22% (95% CI：6.54%-37.90%). There was a significant difference in the sensitivity between TPPA and RPR titer testings for the diagnosis of congenital syphilis (P=0.046). The specificity of the two methods was  99.22% in each. Conclusion: The accuracy of quantitative test for TPPA is greater than RPR in the diagnosis of congenital syphilis.

Key words: Congenital syphilis')">

Congenital syphilis, TPPA, RPR