Dear all

our blood bank are thinking to change the rpr test to vdrl test "elisa" "biokit"

but i heard that the rpr is more sensitive than elisa , is it true?

And is aabb approved to screen syphilis by elisa based tests?

Thank you

The VDRL is usually only done on CSF, RPR on serum specimens. There is no reason you cannot use a specific treponemal antibody vs the RPR screening test.

Is there a better test than the RPR out there now that can be used as a screening test on patients, but doesn't require a single instrument for a single test (not something my director wants to talk about)? I am so tired of the non-specificty of the RPR and it's rather weak performance overall. I would like to look at treponemal antigen specific tests that can be automated and used to monitor treatment titers, but that don't require their own specific instrument. We have a Siemens Centuar and Beckman DXs and we also have the Immucor Capture technology - but Immucor currently says that their test is only licensed for donors, not patients. Does anyone know of anything for any of these or something else that works well?

DiaSorin has an IgG test for treponemal antibody that runs on their EtiMax 3000. I think it is also available on their other instrument (can't think of the name right now).