Line Immunoassay: A Rapid Test for Screening TORCH Complex in Antenatal Patients with Bad Obstetric History

TORCH {Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)} infection causes pregnancy wastage at any stage of gestation. Serological assays can be an important tool for diagnosis. It includes ELISA which is highly specific & sensitive with certain drawbacks like time consuming and for each genus separate test have to be done. Line-Immunoassay (LIA), a newer, cheaper and reliable technique on contrary is done on single panel strip. The present retrospective study was conducted with the aim to evaluate the efficacy of Line Immunoassay for detection of TORCH IgM antibodies. A total of 630 samples from the pregnant women with Bad Obstetric History (BOH) attending OPD and IPD of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Science & Research (MMIMSR), Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India from 2011 to 2015 were subjected to Line-Immunoassay and ELISA for detection of IgM antibodies against TORCH agents in Department of Microbiology. The analysis for TORCH complex showed 32.85% positivity by LIA while 36.03% by ELISA. The diagnostic accuracy of LIA when ELISA considered gold standard was also exhibited which showed Sensitivity of 90.75%, Specificity of 99.75% while PPV & NPV were 99.52%, 95.05% respectively. The statistical analysis showed results were statistically insignificant (p value >0.05). Comparison of detection of TORCH IgM antibodies by ELISA & Line-Immunoassay express good sensitivity & specificity requiring significantly less time and low cost by Line-Immunoassay, concludes that Line-Immunoassay may be used as screening test.