This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JCM.00405-07v1 45/8/2355    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chernesky, M. Articles by Thompson, F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chernesky, M. Articles by Thompson, F.

Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2007, p. 2355-2358, Vol. 45, No. 8
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00405-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Abilities of APTIMA, AMPLICOR, and ProbeTec Assays To Detect Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in PreservCyt ThinPrep Liquid-Based Pap Samples

St. Joseph's Healthcare/McMaster University,¹ Hamilton Community Health Centre, Hamilton,² Evergreen Health Centre,³ MDS Laboratories, Toronto, Ontario, Canada⁴

Received 21 February 2007/ Returned for modification 14 April 2007/ Accepted 18 May 2007

Infections with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are often asymptomatic. Liquid-based Pap (L-Pap) screening may provide samples for testing by commercial assays. Women attending a health clinic or a street youth clinic had a PreservCyt ThinPrep sample and a cervical swab (CS) collected. The L-Pap sample was tested for cytopathology; then 1 ml was transferred to an L-Pap specimen transfer tube for testing by the Gen-Probe APTIMA assays (APTIMA Combo 2 [AC2], APTIMA C. trachomatis [ACT], and APTIMA N. gonorrhoeae [AGC]). The residual L-Pap sample was tested for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae using Roche AMPLICOR (AMP) and Becton Dickinson ProbeTec (PT). The CS was tested by AC2. A patient was considered infected if two specimens were positive or if a single specimen was positive in two tests. The prevalence of infection was 10% (29/290) for C. trachomatis and 2.4% (7/290) for N. gonorrhoeae. Most of the positive patients had specimens that were reactive in all assays (20/29 for C. trachomatis; 6/7 for N. gonorrhoeae). Four patients had double infections. The sensitivities and specificities of the various tests for the specimens tested were as follows. For C. trachomatis on L-Pap, sensitivity and specificity were 100 and 98.1%, respectively, for ACT, 93.1 and 98.8% for AC2, 86.2 and 91.2% for AMP, and 72.4 and 92.7% for PT. For N. gonorrhoeae on L-Pap, sensitivity and specificity were 100% for both AGC and AC2, 85.7 and 100% for AMP, and 85.7 and 100% for PT. For AC2 with CSs, sensitivity and specificity were 93.1 and 98.5%, respectively, for C. trachomatis, and both were 100% for N. gonorrhoeae. There were significant differences in sensitivity and specificity (P < 0.001). The APTIMA assays were more sensitive and specific than AMP or PT for detecting women's C. trachomatis and/or N. gonorrhoeae infections by testing ThinPrep samples.

Published ahead of print on 30 May 2007.