Antibodies against Chlamydia pneumoniae predict the need for elective surgical intervention on small abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Abstract

to compare the ability of two independent Chlamydia pneumoniae antibody tests to predict need for small abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. annual scans were offered to 149 screening diagnosed small AAA (<5 cm). Serum samples were collected for measuring IgA and IgG-antibodies to C. pneumoniae by microimmunofluorescence (MIF) test and the new ELISA (Labsystems). a significant concordance was found between MIF and ELISA titres with Kappa values of 0.29 for S-IgA and 0.42 for S-IgG. IgG antibodies measured by ELISA were most predictive for cases expanding operation recommendable sizes with a sensitivity and specificity of 80% and 66%, respectively. the simpler EIA has a high correlation with the MIF test and both were predictive for the natural history of AAA. Chlamydia antibody test may be used to identify individuals who might benefit from follow-up and anti-chlamydia treatment.