RESUMO
Objective To investigate the clinical manifestation of trachoma,and to select the appropriate laboratory test for clini- cal diagnosis.Design Retrospective case series.Participants Retrospective analysis of medical records from 61 patients with trachoma from Jan 2003 to Aug 2006 in Bejing Tongren Eye Center.Methods Grades of trachoma diagnosis were according to the criteria de- signed by Chinese Ophthalmological Society (1979).The general state of health,case history,and the laboratory investigations of pa- tients were recorded.Laboratory tests included the conjunctiva scraping for inclusions,C.trachomatis immune antigen test and PCR test.Main Outcome Measures Manifestation of corneal and conjunctiva,the results of laboratory tests of C.trachomatis.Results Out of sixty-one patients including 28 males and 33 females,the average old was (29.05?19.99) years.88.5% cases were inⅠstage of tra- choma,8.2% were inⅡstage,and 3.3% were inⅢstage.The C.trachomatis inclusions were found in 7 (11.5%) scraping smears.42 (68.9%) cases were positive in C.trachomatis antigen test.46 (75.4%) cases were positive in PCR tests.The positive rates of antigen and PCR test were significantly higher than that of scraping (P=0.00).Conclusions A majority of clinical patients were inⅠstage of trachoma.The degree of their distress was minimal.It is necessary to apply C.trachomatis,antigen test or PCR test to improve the clin- ical diagnosis.