As compared with Pap testing, HPV testing has greater sensitivity for the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. (Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN57612064 [controlled-trials.com].).

Syphilis has several clinical manifestations, making laboratory testing a very important aspect of diagnosis. In North America, many unsuspected cases are discovered by laboratory testing. The etiological agent, Treponema pallidum, cannot be cultured, and there is no single optimal alternative test. Serological testing is the most frequently used approach in the laboratory diagnosis of syphilis. The present paper discusses the various serological and alternative tests currently available along with their limitations, and relates their results to the likely corresponding clinical stage of the disease. The need to use multiple tests is discussed, and the importance of quality control is noted. The complexity of syphilis serology means that the services of reference laboratories and clinical experts are often needed.

Testing for DNA of 13 high-risk HPV types with the Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) test has consistently been shown to perform better in triage of women with cervical cytology results showing atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) but often not in triage of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) detected in cervical cancer screening. In a metaanalysis, we compared the accuracy of the APTIMA HPV test, which identifies RNA of 14 high-risk HPV types, to HC2 for the triage of women with ASC-US or LSIL. Literature search-targeted studies where the accuracy of APTIMA HPV and HC2 for detection of underlying CIN2/31 was assessed concomitantly including verification of all cases of ASC-US and LSIL. HSROC (Hierarchical Summary ROC) curve regression was used to compute the pooled absolute and relative sensitivity and specificity. Eight studies, comprising 1,839 ASC-US and 1,887 LSIL cases, were retrieved. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of APTIMA to triage ASC-US to detect underlying CIN3 or worse was 96.2% (95% CI 5 91.7-98.3%) and 54.9%

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