Can the detection of IgA anti-Mycoplasma pneumoniae added to IgM increase diagnostic accuracy in patients with infections of the lower respiratory airways?

摘要

AIM To evaluate the increase in diagnostic yield, by using IgA in addition to IgM, instead of IgM alone, in relation to the age of the patients.METHODS The study considered 1067 blood samples from patients with clinical signs of lower respiratory tract infections, tested for anti-Mycoplasma IgG, IgM and IgA antibody.RESULTS The increase in diagnostic yield with IgA, compared to IgM detection alone was of 3.5% with statistically significant differences between age groups(0.8% for those equal/under 50 years of age and 4.3% for those over 50).CONCLUSION Our findings demonstrate that IgA detection lead to a twofold increase in the number of diagnoses among the older age groups, but it did not result in relevant increase among the younger age groups.