Evaluation of the Performance of the Loopamp Trypanosoma Cruzi Detection Kit for the Diagnosis of Chagas Disease in an Area Where It Is Not Endemic, Spain

In Spain, PCR is the tool of choice for the diagnosis of congenital Chagas disease (CD) and serology for diagnosing chronic CD. A loop-mediated isothermal amplification test for DNA detection showed good analytical performance and ease of use. We aimed to evaluate the performance of the Loopamp detection kit (Eiken Chemical Co. Ltd., Japan) (-LAMP) for congenital and chronic CD diagnosis using well-characterized samples. We included samples from 39 congenital and 174 chronic CD cases and from 48 uninfected children born to infected mothers and 34 nonchagasic individuals. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of -LAMP were estimated using standard case definitions for congenital CD (positive result by parasitological or PCR tests or serology after 9 months of age) and chronic CD (positive serology by at least two tests). The -LAMP results were read by visual examination and a real-time fluorimeter. For congenital CD, -LAMP sensitivity was 97% for both types of reading; specificity was 92% by visual examination and 94% by fluorimeter. For chronic CD, sensitivity was 47% and specificity 100%. The accuracy in congenital CD was >94% versus 56% in chronic CD. The agreement of -LAMP with PCR tests was better in congenital CD (kappa, 0.86 to 0.91) than in chronic CD (kappa, 0.67 to 0.83). The Loopamp detection kit showed good performance for the diagnosis of congenital CD. -LAMP, like PCR, can be useful for the screening and early diagnosis of congenital infection.