Automated assessment of spinal fluid examination results in passivehemagglutination reaction in neurosyphilis diagnostics

Spinal fluid samples collected from 50 patients suffering from neurosyphilis (key group) and 30 patients with a nervous system
pathology and craniocerebral injuries without any signs of syphilis in the anamnesis (control group) were examined in the course of regulated serological tests to reveal anti-T. pallidum antibodies (complement-fixation test with a treponemal antigen, complementfixation
test with a cardiolipin antigen, immunofluorescence test with whole spinal fluid, ELISA) as well as in the course of TPHA
with the use of modified methods with the end-point dilution of spinal fluid as 1:4. Visual assessment was used to assess the TPHA
results with the determination of the result positivity degree expressed in conditional units - «pluses», along with the automated
assessment using the Criterion 2 hardware system.
Comparative results of visual and instrumental assessments of the spinal fluid study results in TPHA revealed full compliance of the qualitative study results and 97.5% correspondence in the results expressed in conditional units («pluses»), which provides
sufficient grounds for recommending the Criterion 2 automatic diagnostics complex for TPHA image assessment to be used in clinical and diagnostic laboratories in health care institutions for determining treponemal specific antibodies in spinal fluid for neurosyphilis diagnostics.

syphilis, spinal fluid, TPHA, automated response assessment, Criterion 2