Biomedical subjects

A Lorincz

Publications and source records attributed to A Lorincz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Performance of the DNA-Citoliq liquid-based cytology system compared with conventional smears.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of a new, manual, simplified liquid-based system, DNA-Citoliq (Digene Brasil), employed under routine conditions as compared to conventional smears collected from six collaborating private laboratories. METHODS: A panel of cytopathologists, who served as the gold standard diagnosis, adjudicated discordant opinions. RESULTS: Of 3206 pairs of slides considered valid for comparison, there were 3008 in full agreement (93.8%), 112 (3.5%) with one diagnostic category discrepancies, and 86 (2.7%) discordant cases. Among the 288 borderline+ by either method, DNA-Citoliq detected abnormalities in 243 (84.4%), and conventional smears (CS) detected abnormalities in 178 (61.8%) (McNemar test, P < 0.000), a 36.5% increased detection of borderline+ cases. CONCLUSIONS: For mild dyskaryosis, DNA-Citoliq detected 176 cases and CS 125 cases (McNemar test, P < 0.000); and for moderate+severe dyskaryosis 66 versus 32 cases respectively (McNemar test, P < 0.000).

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

PubMed2004

Robot-assisted minimally invasive Kasai portoenterostomy: a survival porcine study.

BACKGROUND: Major enhancements offered by robotic surgery for minimally invasive procedure include tremor filtration, motion scaling, and the addition of a wrist to the instrument. Minor enhancements include indexing as well as safe and rapid instrument exchange. A benefit associated with any endoscopic procedure is magnification. It was hypothesized that these enhancements would allow the performance of complex gastrointestinal surgery. METHODS: Eight survival pigs (weight, 2.5-8 kg) underwent a robotically assisted minimally invasive portoenterostomy. The procedure was analogous to the Kasai portoenterostomy for biliary atresia usually performed for human patients at the age of 4 to 12 weeks. RESULTS: Five of the eight animals survived for more than 1 month after the operation, returning to normal eating and bowel habits in 2 to 3 days. None were jaundiced. All laboratory values were normal. At 1 month, the animals were killed. There was no anastomotic stenosis at either the end-to-side enteroenterostomy or the portoenterostomy. Histologically, the anastomoses were well healed. CONCLUSION: Computer-assisted robot-enhanced technology allows complex gastrointestinal surgery to be performed using minimally invasive techniques.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

The causal relation between human papillomavirus and cervical cancer.

The causal role of human papillomavirus infections in cervical cancer has been documented beyond reasonable doubt. The association is present in virtually all cervical cancer cases worldwide. It is the right time for medical societies and public health regulators to consider this evidence and to define its preventive and clinical implications. A comprehensive review of key studies and results is presented.

Causality↗

PubMed2001

Human leukocyte antigen class I and II alleles and risk of cervical neoplasia: results from a population-based study in Costa Rica.

To examine human leukocyte antigen (HLA) involvement in the development of all grades of cervical neoplasia, a nested case-control study of 10,077 women in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, was conducted. Participants had invasive cervical cancer, high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs; n=166), or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs); were positive for human papillomavirus (HPV) with no evidence of cervical neoplasia (n=320); or were HPV negative with no evidence of cervical neoplasia but with a history of high-risk sexual behavior (n=173). Compared with women who were HPV negative, women with HLA-DRB1*1301 were associated with decreased risk for cancer/HSILs (odds ratio [OR], 0.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.2-0.7) and for LSILs/HPV (OR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9). Women with both HLA-B*07 and HLA-DQB1*0302 had an 8.2-fold increased risk for cancer/HSILs (95% CI, 1.8-37.2) and a 5.3-fold increased risk for LSILs/HPV (95% CI, 1.2-23.7). These results support the hypothesis that multiple risk alleles are needed in order to increase risk for cervical neoplasia, but a single protective allele may be sufficient for protection.

Alleles↗

PubMed2001

Beta and gamma frequency synchronization by dendritic gabaergic synapses and gap junctions in a network of cortical interneurons.

Distinct interneuron populations innervate perisomatic and dendritic regions of cortical cells. Perisomatically terminating GABAergic inputs are effective in timing postsynaptic action potentials, and basket cells synchronize each other via gap junctions combined with neighboring GABAergic synapses. The function of dendritic GABAergic synapses in cortical rhythmicity, and their interaction with electrical synapses is not understood. Using multiple whole-cell recordings in layers 2-3 of rat somatosensory cortex combined with light and electron microscopic determination of sites of interaction, we studied the interactions between regular spiking nonpyramidal cells (RSNPCs). Random samples of unlabeled postsynaptic targets showed that RSNPCs placed GABAergic synapses onto dendritic spines (53 +/- 12%) and shafts (45 +/- 10%) and occasionally somata (2 +/- 4%). GABAergic interactions between RSNPCs were mediated by 4 +/- 2 axodendritic synapses and phased postsynaptic activity at beta frequency but were ineffective in phasing at gamma rhythm. Electrical interactions of RSNPCs were transmitted via two to eight gap junctions between dendritic shafts and/or spines. Elicited at beta and gamma frequencies, gap junctional potentials timed postsynaptic spikes with a phase lag, however strong electrical coupling could synchronize presynaptic and postsynaptic activity. Combined unitary GABAergic and gap junctional connections of moderate strength produced beta and gamma frequency synchronization of the coupled RSNPCs. Our results provide evidence that dendritic GABAergic and/or gap junctional mechanisms effectively transmit suprathreshold information in a population of interneurons at behaviorally relevant frequencies. A coherent network of GABAergic cells targeting the dendrites could provide a pathway for rhythmic activity spatially segregated from perisomatic mechanisms of synchronization.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2001

Inferior temporal neurons show greater sensitivity to nonaccidental than to metric shape differences.

It has long been known that macaque inferior temporal (IT) neurons tend to fire more strongly to some shapes than to others, and that different IT neurons can show markedly different shape preferences. Beyond the discovery that these preferences can be elicited by features of moderate complexity, no general principle of (nonface) object recognition had emerged by which this enormous variation in selectivity could be understood. Psychophysical, as well as computational work, suggests that one such principle is the difference between viewpoint-invariant, nonaccidental (NAP) and view-dependent, metric shape properties (MPs). We measured the responses of single IT neurons to objects differing in either a NAP (namely, a change in a geon) or an MP of a single part, shown at two orientations in depth. The cells were more sensitive to changes in NAPs than in MPs, even though the image variation (as assessed by wavelet-like measures) produced by the former were smaller than the latter. The magnitude of the response modulation from the rotation itself was, on average, similar to that produced by the NAP differences, although the image changes from the rotation were much greater than that produced by NAP differences. Multidimensional scaling of the neural responses indicated a NAP/MP dimension, independent of an orientation dimension. The present results thus demonstrate that a significant portion of the neural code of IT cells represents differences in NAPs rather than MPs. This code may enable immediate recognition of novel objects at new views.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Shanxi Province Cervical Cancer Screening Study: a cross-sectional comparative trial of multiple techniques to detect cervical neoplasia.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to design a cervical cancer screening algorithm for the developing world that is highly sensitive for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II, III, and cancer and highly specific for CIN II and III, making it possible to ablate the transformation zone without histologic confirmation. METHODS: In rural Shanxi Province, China, we examined 1997 women ages 35-45. Each subject underwent a self-test for intermediate and high-risk HPV (by HC-II assay), fluorescence spectroscopy, a liquid-based Pap (read manually and by computer and used as a direct test for HPV), a visual inspection (VIA) diagnosis, and colposcopy with multiple cervical biopsies. RESULTS: Mean age was 39.1 +/- 3.16 years, mean number of births was 2.6 +/- 0.93. Based on tests administered, 4.3% subjects had > or =CIN II. All subjects with > or =CIN II had either a ThinPrep Pap (> or =ASCUS) or a positive HPV direct test. The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of > or =CIN II were, respectively, 83 and 86% for the HPV self-test, 95 and 85% for the HPV direct test, 94 and 78% for the ThinPrep Pap (> or =ASCUS), 77 and 98% for the ThinPrep Pap (> or =HGSIL), 94 and 9% for fluorescence spectroscopy, 71 and 74% for VIA, and 81 and 77% for colposcopy. CONCLUSION: Based on these data and the existing healthcare infrastructure in China, we believe that further refinement of primary HPV screening using centralized labs is indicated. Self-testing in the local villages may be effective with improvements in the devices and techniques.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Detection of high-risk HPV types by the hybrid capture 2 test.

A hybrid capture test that can be used to detect at least 13 high-risk HPV types (referred to collectively as HPV-HR) in cervical scrapes (Hybrid Capture 2 probe set B, HC2-B) was evaluated. The HC2-B test is accurate and highly reproducible and the results obtained show excellent agreement with those obtained by a multiplexed type-specific polymerase chain reaction (mts-PCR). An additional assay to identify a subset of HPV-HR types may improve specificity without compromising sensitivity in HC2-B positive specimens with a test result close to the cut-off value given by 1 pg/ml HPV DNA.

Cervix Uteri↗

PubMed2000

Comparison between hybrid capture II and polymerase chain reaction results among women at low risk for cervical cancer.

PURPOSE: Hybrid Capture (HC) is a new and powerful tool to detect DNA/RNA of several infectious agents. Regarding HPV DNA detection HC II has shown no false positive results due to contamination and its inter-laboratory reproducibility reaches 98%. It is also simpler and costs less than other methods such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and it has shown a high correlation to clinical findings. Our objective is to compare HC II and PCR results among women at low risk for cervical cancer.METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study which enrolled 977 asymptomatic women aged 15 and 70 years. Squamous columnar junction samples were obtained and analyzed for HPV DNA either by HC II and PCR. Epidemiological factors and cyto-pathologic results were related to HPV DNA status. The Pearson Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were performed to relate epidemiological and cytopathological variables and HPV DNA status.RESULTS: About 15.4% and 15.9% of women were HPV DNA positive by HC II and PCR respectively. Both were highly associated with cytology (P < 0.0001). The correlation to histopathology was also good with a higher significance for HC II. Factors related to HPV DNA detection by PCR were: oral contraceptive use (OR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.2-1.62); history of genital HPV infection (2.11; 1.13-4.59); 3 or more sexual partners (1.35; 1.10-1.83); education (<primary (1.43; 1.01-1.99); secondary (1.42; 1.03-1.99). For the HC II the related variables were: being single (1.26; 1.01-1.62); aged sixteen years or less at first sexual intercourse (1.37; 1.03-1.89).CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that HC II is highly comparable to PCR regarding HPV DNA detection. HC II is also significantly associated with cytology and histopathology results indicating that it may be used as adjunctive or stand-alone test for screening programs.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Prevalence and predictors of human papillomavirus infection in women in Ontario, Canada. Survey of HPV in Ontario Women (SHOW) Group.

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is thought to be the primary cause of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer. We determined the age-specific prevalence of HPV infection and its risk factors in Ontario women. METHODS: We obtained 2 cervical specimens from randomly selected women (in 5-year age categories, from 15 to 49 years) who were being seen in 32 family practices for cytologic screening. The specimens were tested for carcinogenic HPV by the hybrid capture II assay (Digene Corp., Silver Spring, Md.) and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and genotyping. RESULTS: Of 1004 women eligible to participate, samples were obtained from 955 (95.1%). The prevalence of HPV (as determined by the hybrid capture II method) was highest, at 24.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 16.5% to 31.5%), among women 20 to 24 years of age and was progressively lower in older age groups, reaching 3.4% (95% CI 0.1% to 6.7%) in women 45 to 49 years old. The prevalence of HPV (any type) as determined by PCR showed a similar pattern but was significantly higher (p = 0.01) among women 45 to 49 years old than among those 40 to 44 years old (13.0% [95% CI 6.4% to 19.6%] v. 3.3% [95% CI 0.1% to 6.5%]). Risk factors for positivity with the hybrid capture II method were never-married status, divorced or separated status, more than 3 lifetime partners, more than 1 partner in the preceding year, cigarette smoking and current use of oral contraceptives. The presence of squamous intraepithelial lesions on cytologic examination was strongly associated with positivity with the hybrid capture II assay (odds ratio 96.0, 95% CI 22.3 to 413.4; p < 0.01). INTERPRETATION: The highest prevalence of HPV was 24.0%, in women 20 to 24 years old. Risk factors supported a sexual mode of transmission, and there was a strong association between HPV and abnormal cervical cytologic results.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Human papillomavirus DNA testing for cervical cancer screening in low-resource settings.

BACKGROUND: In many low-resource settings, there are barriers to cytologic screening for cervical cancer. This study evaluates human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing as an alternative screening method. METHODS: Cervical samples from 2944 previously unscreened South African women aged 35-65 years were tested for high-risk types of HPV with the use of the Hybrid Capture I (HCI) assay. Women also had a Pap smear, direct visual inspection of the cervix, and Cervicography(TM). Women positive on any screening test were referred for colposcopy. Samples from women with biopsy-confirmed, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs) (n = 95), high-grade SILs (n = 74), or invasive cervical cancer (n = 12) and a random sample of women with no cervical disease (n = 243) were retested for HPV DNA with the use of the more sensitive Hybrid Capture II (HCII) assay. All P values are two-sided. RESULTS: High-risk HPV DNA was detected in 73.3% and 88.4% of 86 women with high-grade SIL or invasive cancer and in 12.2% of 2680 and 18.1% of 243 women without evidence of cervical disease, with the use of the HCI and HCII assays, respectively. HPV DNA testing with the HCII assay was more sensitive than cytology for detecting high-grade SIL and invasive cancer (McNemar's test, P =.04), and testing with the HCI assay was of equivalent sensitivity (P =.61). Cytology had a statistically significantly better specificity (96.8%) than either the HCI assay (87.8%) or the HCII assay (81.9%) (P<.01). Receiver operating characteristic curves identified test cutoff values that allow HPV DNA testing to identify 57% of women with high-grade SIL or cancer, while classifying less than 5% of women with no cervical disease as HPV DNA positive. CONCLUSIONS: HPV DNA testing has a sensitivity equivalent to, or better than, that of cytology. Since HPV DNA testing programs may be easier to implement than cytologic screening, HPV testing should be considered for primary cervical cancer screening in low-resource settings.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

HPV DNA testing of self-collected vaginal samples compared with cytologic screening to detect cervical cancer.

CONTEXT: More than half of the women diagnosed as having cervical cancer in the United States have not been screened within the last 3 years, despite many having had contact with the health care system. In many other regions of the world, there is only limited access to cervical cancer screening. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether testing of self-collected vaginal swabs for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA can be used to screen for cervical disease in women aged 35 years and older. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study comparing Papanicolaou smears with HPV DNA testing of self-collected vaginal swabs. SETTING: Outpatient clinics in a periurban settlement outside of Cape Town, South Africa, between January 1998 and April 1999. PARTICIPANTS: Screening was performed on 1415 previously unscreened black South African women aged 35 to 65 years. INTERVENTION: Women self-collected a vaginal swab for HPV testing in the clinic and were then screened using 4 different tests: Papanicolaou smear, direct visual inspection of the cervix after the application of 5% acetic acid, cervicography, and HPV DNA testing of a clinician-obtained cervical sample. Women with abnormal results on any of the screening tests were referred for colposcopy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Biopsy-confirmed high-grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions or invasive cancer. RESULTS: High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions were identified in 47 (3.4%) of 1365 women adequately assessed, and there were 9 cases of invasive cancer. Of women with high-grade disease, 66.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 52.1%-77.8%) had high risk for HPV detected in self-collected vaginal samples, and 67.9% (95% CI, 53.9%-79.4%) had an abnormal Papanicolaou smear (P = .78). The false-positive rates for HPV DNA testing of self-collected vaginal samples and Papanicolaou smears were 17.1% (95% CI, 15.1%-19.3%) and 12.3% (95% CI, 10.5%-14.2%), respectively (P<.001). A high-risk type of HPV DNA was detected in 83.9% (95% CI, 71.2%-91.9%) of women with high-grade disease and 15.5% (95% CI, 13.6%-17.7%) of women with no evidence of cervical disease using a clinician-obtained cervical sample. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that HPV testing of self-collected vaginal swabs is less specific than but as sensitive as Papanicolaou smears for detecting high-grade cervical disease in women aged 35 years and older, and HPV testing offers an important new way to increase screening in settings where cytology is not readily performed.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Two-stage cervical cancer screening: an alternative for resource-poor settings.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to introduce 2-stage cervical cancer screening in which 2 screening tests are performed sequentially (the second test is performed only if the first result is positive), followed by treatment if both test results are abnormal. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 1423 women from Cape Town, South Africa, were screened by direct visual inspection, human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing, cytologic testing, and cervicography. If an abnormality was identified with any test, women were referred for colposcopy. RESULTS: Direct visual inspection, cytologic testing, human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing, and cervicography, when used alone, identified 24, 26, 23, and 23 cases of disease (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion or cancer) per 1000 women, respectively, and would classify 182, 71, 137, and 112 women without disease as having abnormal results. Two-stage screening with direct visual inspection first, followed by cytologic testing, human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing, or cervicography, would detect 18, 16, and 18 cases per 1000 women, respectively, and would substantially reduce the number of women without disease who were classified as having abnormal results. CONCLUSION: Two-stage screening for cervical cancer provides an attractive alternative to conventional screening for low-resource settings.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Cervicography screening for cervical cancer among 8460 women in a high-risk population.

OBJECTIVE: Cervicography was evaluated as a primary screening method for cervical cancer. STUDY DESIGN: Cervigrams of 8460 women were taken on enrollment into a population-based study of cervical neoplasia. Cervicography results were compared with a referent diagnosis determined by histologic analysis and 3 cytologic tests, and with the performance of conventional cytologic evaluation. RESULTS: Cervicography identified all 11 cancers, whereas cytologic testing missed 1. Cervicography yielded sensitivities for detecting high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions or cancer of 49.3% overall (specificity, 95.0%), 54.6% in women younger than 50 years of age, and 26.9% in women 50 years of age and older. Cytologic testing yielded sensitivities for detecting high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions or cancer of 77.2% overall (specificity, 94. 2%), 75.5% in women younger than 50 years of age, and 84.6% in women 50 years of age and older. CONCLUSIONS: Cytologic testing performed better than cervicography for the detection of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions. Cervicography performed marginally better than cytologic testing for the detection of invasive cervical cancer. Cervicography is not recommended for postmenopausal women.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

HPV testing in primary screening of older women.

Certain types of the human papilloma virus (HPV) are well established as the primary cause of cervical cancer. Several studies have shown that HPV testing can improve the detection rate of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), but these have been carried out primarily in younger women. In this study we evaluated the role of HPV testing as an adjunct to cytology in women aged 35 or over. An additional aim was to evaluate commercially available kits for HPV testing. A total of 2988 eligible women aged 34 or more attending for a routine smear in 40 general practitioner practices received HPV testing in addition to routine cytology, after having given written informed consent. Samples were assayed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and two versions of the Hybrid Capture test for HPV, and women were invited for colposcopy if there was any cytological abnormality (including borderline smears) or the PCR test was positive. Any apparent abnormality was biopsied and loop-excision was performed as necessary. CIN was judged by histology; 42 women had high-grade CIN, of which six were cytology negative (86% sensitivity for borderline or worse) and three had a borderline smear (79% sensitivity for mild dyskaryosis or worse). The positive predictive value of a borderline smear was only 3.1%. Eleven high-grade lesions were negative by the PCR HPV test (sensitivity 74%). The first generation Hybrid Capture II test had a similar sensitivity but an unacceptably high false positive rate (18.3%), while the newer Hybrid Capture II microtitre kit had a 95% sensitivity and a 2.3% positivity rate in normal women when used at a 2 pg ml(-1) cut-off (positive predictive value 27%). Cytology performed very well in this older cohort of women. The newer Hybrid Capture II microtitre test may be a useful adjunct, especially if the results reported here are reproducible in other studies. A combined screening test offers the possibility of greater protection and/or longer screening intervals, which could reduce the overall cost of the screening programme.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1999

Use of a hybrid capture assay of self-collected vaginal swabs in rural Uganda for detection of human papillomavirus.

A random sample of 960 women aged 15-59 years enrolled in a population-based study in rural Uganda were asked to provide self-collected vaginal swabs for human papillomavirus (HPV) testing by hybrid capture assay. The intensity of HPV infection was assessed by the relative light unit (RLU) ratio in the specimen-to-positive control (PC) ratio. In total, 898 women (93%) provided a swab and 737 provided serum for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) determination. HPV prevalence was 16.7% and was highest in younger women. HIV-1 prevalence was 17.8%. HPV prevalence was 44.3% in HIV-positive and 10.2% in HIV-negative women (rate ratio, 5.36; 95% confidence interval, 3.81-7.54). The intensity of HPV infection was significantly greater among HIV-positive than HIV-negative women (54. 4 vs. 11.1 RLU/PC; P=.026); intensity of infection was highest in women aged <30 years. The higher prevalence and intensity of HPV infection in HIV-positive women could facilitate HPV transmission in this population. Self-collected vaginal swabs could be used in population-based screening to identify women at high risk of cervical neoplasia.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Ability of the digene hybrid capture II test to identify Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in cervical specimens.

The Digene Hybrid Capture II (HCII CT/GC) test is a combination test designed to detect Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in a single specimen. It is a nucleic acid hybridization test which uses signal amplification to increase sensitivity. We compared its performance to that of culture on cervical specimens from 1,370 women. Direct fluorescent-antibody assay was used to resolve discrepant results for C. trachomatis. Samples were collected with a proprietary cervical brush or with endocervical swabs. The HCII CT/GC test proved to be sensitive and specific in detecting these organisms. Compared to N. gonorrhoeae culture, it had a sensitivity of 93% (87/94) and a specificity of 98.5% (1,244/1,263). Compared to C. trachomatis culture, the sensitivity was 97.7% (129/132) and specificity was 98.2% (1,216/1,238). Testing of some specimens with discrepant results by PCR suggested that the test would actually prove to be even more specific if it were compared to a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). The sensitivity of C. trachomatis culture was somewhat less, at 88.6% (117/132). The endocervical brush appeared to be better than Dacron swabs for collecting specimens. The HCII CT/GC test offers an attractive format that allows simultaneous detection of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae with a single specimen. An initial positive result is followed by repeat tests with probes to identify chlamydiae or gonococci. This test is more sensitive than C. trachomatis culture and is at least as sensitive as culture for gonococci. It deserves further evaluation and comparison with NAATs and may well offer an attractive alternative for diagnosis and screening of these infections.

Bacteriological Techniques↗

PubMed1999

Evaluation of the digene hybrid capture II CT-ID test for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in endocervical specimens.

The performance characteristics of the new signal amplification-based Hybrid Capture (HC) II CT-ID test system (Digene, Silver Spring, Md.) with endocervical specimens were compared to those of tissue culture and PCR (AMPLICOR CT PCR; Roche Molecular Systems, Branchburg, N.J.) for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in 587 women. HC II CT-ID identified 62 of 65 confirmed C. trachomatis-positive patients (sensitivity of 95.4%) and was negative for 517 of 522 patients who were negative by culture and PCR (specificity of 99.0%). Twelve of the 65 confirmed positive patients were negative by culture but were identified by both HC II CT-ID and PCR (sensitivity of culture was 81.5% [P < 0.01]). In comparison, PCR detected 59 of 65 positive specimens (sensitivity of 90.8%) and had a specificity of 99.6% (520 of 522). These results demonstrate that the Digene HC II CT-ID test is a highly sensitive and specific assay for the detection of C. trachomatis infection in endocervical specimens.

Adolescent↗