Dans P E, Judson F N, Larsen S A, Lantz M A
South Med J. 1977 Mar;70(3):312-5. doi: 10.1097/00007611-197703000-00015.
The fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) test, an excellent confirmatory treponemal test, has been used increasingly for syphilis screening and case detection. To evaluate its performance as an initial test, we did Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) slide and FTA-ABS tests on 1,043 patients suspected of having syphilis. When retested in both a local and a reference laboratory, sera from 226 patients with borderline or reactive results demonstrated interlaboratory consistency for the VDRL but not the FTA-ABS. Borderline FTA-ABS results correlated poorly with the diagnosis of syphilis in both laboratories; a reactive FTA-ABS test correlated well only in the reference laboratory. Performance of the test appeared to be diminished by its use in a low-prevalence population and by seemingly minor alterations in the test procedure at the local laboratory.
荧光密螺旋体抗体吸收（FTA-ABS）试验是一种出色的密螺旋体确诊试验，越来越多地用于梅毒筛查和病例检测。为了评估其作为初始检测的性能，我们对1043名疑似梅毒患者进行了性病研究实验室（VDRL）玻片试验和FTA-ABS试验。在本地实验室和参考实验室重新检测时，226名结果为临界或阳性的患者血清显示，VDRL试验在实验室间具有一致性，但FTA-ABS试验并非如此。在两个实验室中，FTA-ABS临界结果与梅毒诊断的相关性都很差；只有在参考实验室中，FTA-ABS阳性试验与梅毒诊断的相关性良好。在低流行率人群中使用该试验以及本地实验室检测程序看似微小的改变，似乎都降低了该试验的性能。
