Evaluation of different techniques for the demonstration of hepatitis B antigen, with special reference to a modified...

Comparison of the features of the Hepanosticon, micro-Hepanosticon and Auscell techniques. The serum of 17,000 blood donors of the Amsterdam Blood Bank were tested. Using the micro-Hepanosticon method, 4.5% were false positive with fresh serum, but only 1.5% when the sera were frozen and stored before testing. The authors conclude that the agar gel diffusion, the hemagglutination-inhibition and the Austria II techniques are the most specific, although 1.5% false-positive results must be accepted. The micro-Hepanosticon method offers the great advantage of being the most economical.