What is rpt blood test?

The rapid plasma reagin test (RPR test or RPR titer) is a type of rapid diagnostic test that looks for non-specific antibodies in the blood of the patient that may indicate an infection by syphilis or related non-venereal treponematoses. The RPR test measures antibodies that are present in the blood of someone who has syphilis, rather than the bacterium that causes the disease. They then send the blood sample to a lab for testing. Start studying RPT OBTAINING BLOOD SAMPLES. Although there is a lot of general information about how lab tests might be used to.

This page contains a series of articles about interpreting laboratory tests.

Although there is a lot of general information about how lab tests might be used to assess your health it is very important to interpret them in the light of why they have been taken.  This article includes a key to interpreting some of the abbreviations we use when commenting on your blood test results.

These articles are intended to be a guide for your information and to help you understand a little more about why blood tests are taken and how they may be used, but they are not meant to replace a medical consultation, nor to be a pick list from which tests are to be selected.

Laboratory tests need to be interpreted in the context of why they were taken and occasionally the interpretation may seem to be at odds with what is written in these articles - that is because there is a point at which the articles become too unwieldy for general use and so they are of necessity brief and limited in scope.  If you are confused or concerned, you need to see the doctor to discuss your results.

When you see your blood test results, you may also see a comment from the doctor.  These comments are intended to make it easy for us to locate relevant tests in the future but may also have additional information for you.

We use some common abbreviations in our comments:

n - the test results are normal, or if abnormal are unlikely to be significant.

k - (sometimes OK) - although abnormal this test requires no action.

isq - in status quo - although signficantly abnormal, this test result is similar to previous results.

rpt - this test should be repeated.  Often follwed by a time period.

3/12 - three months.  A medical time abbreviation. the first number is how many, the second is what period.  7=days, 52=weeks, 12=months.  Thus 6/52= 6 weeks.

55 (or other number) this is just to make it easy for us to see test results in a list and has no meaning other than being the result itself.

TCI - to come in.  The doctor would like to see you about this test result.  Sometimes with a time frame specified.  We should be in touch about this, but if not, please make an appointment.

prob - probably, usually followed by a comment about what the test might mean.

? - on its own means 'uncertain significance' but ? followed by a diagnosis or words means 'perhaps' - generally used when we are uncertain or even quite unsure of how to interpret a result.

Occasionally tests will be filed without a comment - this usually occurs when the test has been ordered and interpreted by a doctor elsewhere - perhaps the hospital or the after hours service.

Sometimes test results may not be available immediately.  This may be because the tests take some time to return from the laboratory or that the doctor is taking some time to consider the meaning of the result.

Occasionally test results are not sent to us electronically and so may not be available to view on the portal.  If you are concerned that important test results are not visible and it has been at least 1 week since the test, please contact the surgery.

RPR test, syphilis test

The rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test is a blood test that looks for antibodies to syphilis. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that first causes symptoms seen with many other illnesses. Early symptoms include rash, fever, swollen glands, muscle aches, and sore throat.

In addition, people who have early-stage syphilis may have sores (lesions). Contact with these sores can pass the infection on to other people during sexual contact.

If not found, syphilis can stay in the body for years causing harm to internal organs. Without treatment, over time it it can cause numbness, paralysis, blindness, and even death. But it can be easily cured if treated in the early stages. Treatment involves receiving 1 or more shots of a form of penicillin (penicillin G benzathine).

The RPR test looks for antibodies that react to syphilis in the blood. This means the test doesn't find the actual bacteria that cause syphilis. Instead, it looks for antibodies against substances given off by cells that have been harmed by the bacteria.

You may need this test if you have ever been sexually active and show symptoms of syphilis. These symptoms may include:

Years after infection without correct treatment, symptoms in the final stages of the disease include numbness, paralysis, blindness, and dementia or death.

The RPR test is often used to check treatment of a syphilis infection. If you are being treated for syphilis, you need to stop having sex until your sores have fully healed. Your partner(s) should also be told so they can also be tested and treated if needed.

If you are a sexually active adult with HIV/AIDS, you may need the RPR test at least once a year. Screenings for syphilis and other STIs are also recommended every 3 to 6 months if you have had unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, or intercourse while under the influence of illegal drugs. It's routine to be tested for syphilis and other STIs during pregnancy. Condoms can help prevent the spread of syphilis. But they don't protect against sores outside the condom area.

You may also need the RPR test if you are in a group that is at high risk for syphilis. This includes sex workers, males who have sex with males, or adult prisoners. Syphilis can infect or even possibly kill a developing baby, so it's very important that all pregnant people be screened with an RPR. If it's positive, the pregnant person can get treatment to lower the chance of passing the disease to the fetus.

RPR is not specific to just syphilis. If your RPR test is positive, you will need more tests to confirm that you have syphilis. One of the most common tests used to confirm a syphilis diagnosis is the T. pallidum enzyme immunoassay. Other tests may include:

These tests will generally rule out a false-positive result. This means your test is positive even if you don't have syphilis. Your healthcare provider may also be able to find the syphilis bacteria by taking a sample from a moist sore and looking at it under a microscope.

Test results may vary depending on your age, gender, health history, and other things. Your test results may be different depending on the lab used. They may not mean you have a problem. Ask your healthcare provider what your test results mean for you.

A negative or nonreactive result means you don't likely have syphilis. Positive results are given as a ratio in titers. This tells your healthcare provider the amount of antibodies in your blood.

Here are some general results:

The test is done with a blood sample. A needle is used to draw blood from a vein in your arm or hand.

Taking a blood sample with a needle carries risks. These include bleeding, infection, bruising, or feeling lightheaded. When the needle pricks your arm, you may feel a slight sting or pain. Afterward, the site may be sore.

Your test results may be false-positive for many reasons. These include pregnancy, IV drug use, tuberculosis, chronic liver disease, recent vaccines, or inflammation of the heart lining or valves (endocarditis). You may also have a false-positive result if you have one of a number of infections. These include rickettsial infections such as typhus or Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

* U.S. doctors perform 800,000, knee, hip procedures a year

* Other uses could include flu, blood stream infection

CHICAGO, March 4 (Reuters) - Infection poses one of the most serious risks to patients getting a hip or knee replaced, and a major U.S. drugmaker is developing a test to quickly identify the pathogens responsible so doctors can treat problems sooner.

Abbott Diagnostics Group, a unit of Abbott Laboratories , is working with privately held Genetics Laboratory Inc, whose expertise is in orthopedics, to develop the test.

It will be based on Abbott’s PLEX-ID system for identifying microbes, and is expected to help doctors detect infections that become rooted in the body’s joints long before they become apparent through physical symptoms.

“This is a completely new way of diagnosing infectious disease,” Dave Ecker, divisional vice president at Abbott Molecular, said in an interview. “It is currently dominated by technology using cultures, which is a 150-year-old technology. We are long overdue for an advance.”

Once Abbott and Genetics Laboratory build the test, an application specific to identifying orthopedic infection would require approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which could take 5 years, Ecker said.

“Orthopedics is one of the leading opportunities for this technology because of what it’s able to do for patients who have orthopedic infections, which are difficult to diagnose by conventional methods,” Ecker said in an interview .

“But it has broader applications. This is a one-stop shop for infectious disease,” he said, referring to illnesses from blood stream and respiratory infections, to influenza.

About 800,000 knee and hip replacement procedures are performed annually in the United States, and complications related to infections occur in about two percent of those procedures, according to a 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

More than 70,000 joint revisions are performed annually in the United States, with more than 15 percent of hip and 25 percent of knee revisions caused by infections. Revisions are often more expensive and complicated than the original surgery.

PLEX-ID was originally used by U.S. government biodefense researchers who wanted to rapidly identify pathogens used in a potential bioterrorism attack. The PLEX-ID system can identify a broad variety of pathogens within 5 to 6 hours by weighing the DNA of the microorganism.

In orthopedic cases, the standard method of identifying pathogens is by taking a culture, which can take several days to grow and produce a result. Blood tests and joint fluid analysis can also give clues about the presence of an infection, but results can take time and may be inconclusive.

Dr. Javad Parvizi, an orthopedic surgeon at the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, noted that infections are a risk during surgery itself, but may also occur a decade after a knee or hip replacement. He is not involved in the Abbott venture.

About 4 percent of hip and knee replacement patients suffer infection within the first 10 years after the procedure. Prosthetic joint infection is the number one cause of knee replacement failures and the second most common cause of hip replacement failures, he said.

Infections in joint replacements have been on the rise, partly because of the growing number of people with prosthetic implants and the fact that detection has improved. But patients are also at higher risk because there are more antibiotic-resistent bacteria lurking around hospitals, said Parvizi.

Abbott’s PLEX-ID can identify bacteria, viruses, fungi and certain parasites. It also provides information on drug resistance, virulence, and strain type. It is already used in the European Union to identify influenza after it has been grown in a culture.