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Laboratory tests that are not recommended

Some laboratories offer Lyme disease testing using assays whose accuracy and clinical usefulness have not been adequately established. Examples of unvalidated tests include:

  • Capture assays for antigens in urine
  • Culture, immunofluorescence staining, or cell sorting of cell wall-deficient or cystic forms of B. burgdorferi
  • Lymphocyte transformation tests
  • Quantitative CD57 lymphocyte assays
  • “Reverse Western blots”
  • In-house criteria for interpretation of immunoblots
  • Measurements of antibodies in joint fluid (synovial fluid)
  • IgM or IgG tests without a previous ELISA/EIA/IFA

References

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