Application of the immunoelectrophoresis test for hydatidosis in patients with a presumptive diagnosis of the disease.

The Echinococcus granulosus diagnostic arc 5 was detected by the immunoelectrophoresis (IEP) test in 43 of 51 sera from patients with a presumptive clinical diagnosis of hydatid disease when stained slides were examined. In 22 of these, however, the arc 5 was readily recognized in the reading following citrate treatment of the slide. The routine reading of slides after 24 and 48 hours of incubation is recommended in an attempt to provide the clinician with an earlier immunological confirmation of hydatidosis by the IEP test. The definitive reading of the stained slide has the added advantage of detecting a larger number of uncharacterized precipitation bands which may be of value in preoperative lydatid sera lacking the diagnostic arc and in the post-operatory serological monitoring of hydatid cases.