Assessment of the "luotest" in late syphillis.

Abstract

"Luotest" is carried out by injecting intradermally into the forearm 0.2 ml of a sterile extract from rabbit syphilitic testes diluted with 0.5% phenol in normal saline. This test was carried out in 40 patients in a venereal disease clinic in all of whom the Treponema palladium immobilization test was positive and there was clinical evidence of late acquired or congenital syphilis. The test was positive in 13 patients and when repeated on 24 patients was positive in an additional 9. It was also found positive in 2 patients in the nonsyphilitic control group. The authors conclude that the luotest is not helpful in the modern diagnosis, management, or exclusion of syphilis.