Reliability of Immunodiagnostic Tests for Diagnosis of Liver Alveolar Echinococcosis

Abstract

Background and Aim: Liver alveolar echinococcosis is a rare parasitic zoonosis, is caused by Echinococcus multilocularis and is a very rare and severe disease. Our aim is to investigate the accuracy of diagnosis of Alveolar Echinococcosis (AE) via different serological tests, with an emphasis on pats who had liver resections. Methods: We investigated 39 patients who were diagnosed with liver AE. Group 1 (n=16) inoperable patients, Group 2 (n=11) complete resection of all parasitic mass, Group 3 (n=12) partial resection in which a small remnant was left on a vital structure. We investigated three different markers Em2plus, Em12, and Em16-18. Results: We found that sensitivity for serologic diagnosis of AE was 88% (Em2plus), 94% (Em16-18), and 69% (Em12) in group 1, 55% (Em2plus), 27% (Em16-18) and 18% (Em12) in group 2, 75% (Em2plus), 100% (Em16-18), 75% (Em12) in group 3 respectively. Conclusions: In conclusion, the serologic tests are practical and cost-effective tools for use in the diagnosis of the AE. In our study the 16-18 bands observed in with the western blot method, are determined to be the most reliable test in the diagnosis of AE for groups 1 and 3. For group 2, Em12 and Em16-18 may both be used as markers for patient followup tests.