[Evaluation of an immunoenzyme technique for the diagnosis of syphilis].

A comparative study of an enzyme immunoassay (EIA Captia Syphilis Mercia), FTA-Abs and VDRL to detect anti-Treponema pallidum antibodies was carried out in overall 290 subjects: 113 had a diagnosis of syphilis (40 primary and 73 secondary) and 117 were controls (40 with nonsyphilitic ulcers, 52 with falsely positive VDRL and 85 healthy subjects). The overall correlations between EIA Captia and FTA and with VDRL were 92% and 72%, respectively. The sensitivity of the method was 82%, with 98% specificity.