Resumo

SAEZ POZAS, Nery; DELGADO CABRERA, Caridad; ROMERO AHUMADA, Francisco  e  BAEZ DUENAS, Rosa María. El diagnóstico de laboratorio de la sífilis: Revisión bibliográfica. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 1997, vol.13, n.1, pp. 43-48. ISSN 1561-3038.

This current piece of work is a bibliographic review about the syphilis diagnosis. Direct visualization methods are reviewed, and also non-treponemic as well as treponemic serologic tests, mainly used currently. Several advantages of these methods are reported. The usefulness of the application of these tests in certain moments of the disease, is explained, with the aim of contributing to update the physicians and medicine students in the laboratory diagnosis of this entity, which still makes up a health problem in many regions of the worls. The conclusion is that the dark-field examination and the fluorescent treponemal antibody (absorption) test are the conclusive methods for an early detection of syphilis. It is possible to carry out a presumptive diagnosis, using two kinds of serological tests for syphilis: treponemic and non-treponemic. Any test on its own is not sufficient to establish the diagnosis.

Palavras-chave : SYPHILIS SERODIAGNOSIS; SYPHILIS [diagnosis].