Topic: Focus Floating Microscopy: better test than PCR when used for Lyme skin manifestation
nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174
posted
Am J Clin Pathol American Society for Clinical Pathology Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Focus Floating Microscopy ``Gold Standard'' for Cutaneous Borreliosis?
"Borrelia burgdorferi is difficult to detect in routine biopsy material from patients with skin lesions of borreliosis. In this study, a new immunohistochemical method, focus floating microscopy (FFM), was developed to detect B burgdorferi in tissue sections and was compared with polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
By using standard histologic equipment, tissue sections stained with a polyclonal B burgdorferi antibody were simultaneously scanned through 2 planes: horizontally in serpentines and vertically by focusing through the thickness of the section.
Borrelia were detected in 47 of 71 ticks, 34 of 66 tick bites, 30 of 32 erythema chronicum migrans cases, 41 of 43 borrelial lymphocytomas, and 50 of 51 acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans cases.
FFM proved to be more sensitive than PCR (96.0% vs 45.2%) and nearly equally specific (99.4% vs 100%).
All 169 control cases, except 1 false-positive case of secondary syphilis, were negative with FFM. FFM is an easy, quick, and inexpensive method to reliably detect Borrelia in cutaneous tissue sections."
posted
Yes, but where can we get this kind of testing done?
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174
posted
I have no idea - I am trying to find that out in my searching on this.
I will be posting about it as soon as I find the answer(s) to that - or if I can't find anything I will post that too.
Judging from all the studies I am reading about it, this is so good it should be offered in every Lab that does Lyme tests. So hopefully it is available somewhere!
posted
The abstract is 2 years old, you'd think it would be availble somewhere, maybe e-mailing the authors would yield some insight where to get the test.
Proof Positive testing like this is what will finally shut down the IDSA stance on chronic lyme.
WB Antibody testing for something that suppresses your immune system in ludicris.
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nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174
posted
Unfortunately this is only for active and inflammatory-stage cutaneous presentations.
This test still does nothing for people without these manifestations.
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