2020 Volume 94 Issue 1 Pages 102-108
Entamoeba histolytica infections comprising enterocolitis (54 cases), liver abscesses (58 cases) and asymptomatic carriers (17 cases) were retrospectively studied based on the medical records of patients diagnosed at the Department of Infectious Diseases of Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital during 1992-2000, with special reference to serum antibody titers (indirect haemagglutination test) to E. histolytica. As the timing and the frequency of antibody testings varied for each patient, the maximum antibody titers of individual cases were used as the representatives of antibody titers for E. histolytica. Sensitivity of the serodiagnosis to E. histolytica was 85.2% (46 in 54 cases) for amoebic colitis, 98.3% (57 in 58 cases) for amoebic liver abscesses,and 11.8% (2 in 17 cases) for asymptomatic carriers. Following assignation of patients with non-amoebic enterocolitis (28 cases) and non-amoebic space-occupying mass lesions of the liver (16 cases) to negative controls, the specificity of the serodiagnosis with the anti-amoebic antibody was 100% for both groups of the above mentioned patients with amoebic colitis and amoebic liver abscesses.
