THE IMMUNOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF HYDATID DISEASE

SUMMARY: The tests that have been most commonly employed for the diagnosis of hydatid disease in Australia include the intradermal test (ID or Casoni test), complement fixation test (CFT), indirect haemagglutination (IHA) test, latex agglutination (LA) test, indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and the immunoelectrophoresis test (IEP). More recently developed tests are the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), radioimmunoassay (RIA), and countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis (CIE). This paper outlines the uses for immunological diagnosis of hydatid disease and the criteria for determining the test of choice in a particular circumstance. The principles of each test, and their usefulness in terms of the criteria set down is discussed. At the present time, for pre-treatment diagnosis IHA and LA appear to be the best suited for screening purposes while IEP is the most specific diagnostic test. For postoperative follow up IEP and the CFT are both useful.