ReviewClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2020
Syphilis Laboratory Guidelines: Performance Characteristics of Nontreponemal Antibody Tests.
Review in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Improved rapid diagnostic tests to detect syphilis and yaws: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Sexually transmitted infections · 2022Pooled it
- Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021.MMWR. Recommendations and reports : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Recommendations and reports · 2021Guideline
- Comparable treatment response rates with benzathine penicillin and doxycycline in early syphilis: evidence from a large German cohort.Infection · 2026Article
- Developing a multi-antigen fusion protein (Tp15-17-47) serological test to improve neurosyphilis diagnosis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- A Four-Item Risk Score to Target Acute HIV Infection Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Indonesia: Development and Validation in the INTERACT Prospective Cohort.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2026Article
- Dual Treponemal and Non-Treponemal Rapid Test for Syphilis in People Living with HIV: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2026Article
- Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteome Reveals Dysregulation of Lysosomal and Axonal Proteins in Neurosyphilis.Journal of proteome research · 2026Article
- Philippine Clinical Practice Guidelines for Periodic Health Examination: Screening for Infectious Diseases.Acta medica Philippina · 2026Article
- Rapid Plasma Reagin Tests of Serum, Cerebrospinal Fluid, and Aqueous Humor of Patients With Ocular Syphilis and AIDS.Journal of ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Malignant Syphilis in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Ocular Neurosyphilis in an Immunocompetent Patient Without HIV: A Diagnostic Challenge.Cureus · 2025Article
- Diagnostic importance of Treponema pallidum Tp0971 in the serological assessment of treatment efficacy for syphilis.Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials · 2025Article
- Advances in Syphilis Diagnostics to Address the 21st-Century Epidemic.Clinical chemistry · 2025Review
- Syphilis and the Eye: Clinical Features, Diagnostic Challenges, and Evolving Therapeutic Paradigms.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Diagnostic Properties of Different Serological Methods for Syphilis Testing in Brazil.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network National Syphilis In-Laboratory Serological Testing Recommendations.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2025Review
- Ischemic stroke as a presenting feature of neurosyphilis in an immunocompetent adult and attained complete recovery following treatment: a case report and review of the literature.Journal of medical case reports · 2025Review
- Syphilitic Cholangiopathy Mimicking Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis.Infectious disease reports · 2025Article
- Isolated Positive Treponemal Test in Pregnancy and Placental Abnormalities Without Confirmed Syphilis Infection: A Case Report.Case reports in infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Evaluation of MAGLUMI syphilis test for accurate detection of syphilis antibodies in blood donors and suspected syphilis cases.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
We reviewed the relevant syphilis diagnostic literature to address the following question: what are the performance characteristics, stratified by the stage of syphilis, for nontreponemal serologic tests? The database search included key terms related to syphilis and nontreponemal tests from 1960-2017, and for data related to the venereal disease research laboratory test from 1940-1960. Based on this review, we report the sensitivity and specificity for each stage of syphilis (primary, secondary, early latent, late latent, or unknown duration; tertiary as well as neurosyphilis, ocular syphilis, and otic syphilis). We also report on reactive nontreponemal tests in conditions other than syphilis, false negatives, and automated nontreponemal tests. Overall, many studies were limited by their sample size, lack of clearly documented clinical staging, and lack of well-defined gold standards. There is a need to better define the performance characteristics of nontreponemal tests, particularly in the late stages of syphilis, with clinically well-characterized samples. Published data are needed on automated nontreponemal tests. Evidence-based guidelines are needed for optimal prozone titrations. Finally, improved criteria and diagnostics for neurosyphilis (as well as ocular and otic syphilis) are needed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.