COMPARISON OF CHEMILUMINESCENCE IMMUNOASSAY AND IMMUNOCHROMATOGRAPHIC TEST FOR SYPHILIS SCREENING IN BLOOD DONORS ATTENDING A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF LAHORE

Background and Objective: The screening process of blood donors for transfusion transmitted infect-ions (TTIs) is an essential step of blood transfusion. Multiple tests are available for detection of orga-nism causing syphilis i.e. Treponema pallidum. The objective of this study was to compare the perfor-mance of Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA) and Immunochromatographic test (ICT) that are available for this purpose. Methods: One hundred consecutive samples were obtained from donors presenting in the Blood Bank of Shalamar Teaching Hospital (STH). The screening for syphilis was done using CLIA and ICT simulta-neously. The CLIA was performed on VITROS ECi Immunodiagnostics system (Ortho Clinical Diagnos-tics) and ICT by using Alere Determine Syphilis TP (Abbott Diagnostics, Chicago IL, USA). Sera with discordant results were tested by Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody-Absorption Test (FTA-ABS) for con-firmation. Results: Out of 100 sera tested, 97 were negative and 2 were positive by both the techniques.One sample had discordant result which was reconfirmed using a third method. Conclusion: Our results showed comparable performance of the two techniques with 99% agreement of results for syphilis screening of the donors. We suggest using the ICT assay in situations (a) where the laboratory cannot afford to have a more advanced system for blood donors, (b) as a backup and (c) in life-threatening situations where time saving may be life saving.