[1st results with the Treponema pallidum hemagglutination (TPHA) test in blood stains]

Bloodstains were produced from probationers who had had syphilis at some time in their lives and from others whose anamnesis had no indication of syphilis. After storage the stain eluates underwent the treponema-pallidum-haemagglutination (TPHA) test, with the eluates' IgG content being adapted to a concentration adequate to the test conditions. The results received from the stain eluates of the previous syphilis patients corresponded in 85% of the cases with the serum findings of these probationers. It appears that the TPHA test can already provide clues as to the identity of an unknown stain producer at the beginning of the police investigation. Methodical parallels to dried-blood tests of syphilis as a clinical problem will be discussed.