LEISHMANIA SEROLOGY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS

Leishmania Serology

Abstract

Background: The gold standard to diagnose cutaneous leishmaniasis is histopathology, but there has always been a need of a rapid, reliable, cheap and convenient laboratory investigation. Serological tests fulfill the above criteria.
Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in detection of leishmania antibodies, in comparison with the histopathology.
Place and duration of study: The study was conducted in Military Hospital Rawalpindi from 1st November 2010 to 30th June 2011.
Patients and methods: The study population included the patients who were clinically diagnosed with cutaneous leishmaniasis. All of them were biopsied and serum was sent for leishmania serology.
Results: A total of 47 patients were included. They were all adult males. The histopathology was positive in 31/47 patients (65.95%), while the leishmania serology was positive in 36/47 cases (76.59%). The sensitiuites was 74.19%, specificity was 18.75%, positive predictive value has 63.88%, negative predicative value was 27% and accuracy was 55%.
Conclusion: In the light of sensitivity analysis, it may be concluded that leishmania serology has moderate sensitivity and low specificity; hence it is not a reliable test for cutaneous leishmaniasis.