Author(s): Marques, Marcos José ; Volpini, Ângela Cristina ; Coelho, George Luiz Lins Machado ; Pinto, Jackson Machado ; Costa, Carlos Alberto da ; Mayrink, Wilson ; Genaro, Odair ; Romanha, Alvaro José
Date: 2014
Origin: Oasisbr
Subject(s): American cutaneous leishmaniasis; Polymerase chain reaction; Diagnosis
An evaluation of 5 laboratory methods for diagnosing American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) was carried out on patients from an endemic area of Brazil. From 164 patients presenting cutaneous lesions, and suspected to have ACL, 133 (81.1%) were confirmed for the disease by Montenegro skin test (MST) and/or parasitologic examination (PE). In both groups of patients, the positivity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was similar to that of immunofluorescence assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and higher than that of MST and PE ( P b .05). In the group of patients suspected to have ACL, PCR presented the same positivity as PE and MST together. No correlation between positivity of the laboratory methods and clinical or epidemiologic aspects was observed. Our data confirmed the value of PCR as an alternative laboratory method for diagnosing ACL, especially for those patients with negative PE and MST.
