Evaluation of the digene hybrid capture II CT-ID test for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in endocervical specimens

The performance characteristics of the new signal amplification-based Hybri d Capture (HC) II CT-ID test system (Digene, Silver Spring, Md.) with endoc ervical specimens were compared to those of tissue culture and PCR (AMPLICO R CT PCR; Roche Molecular Systems, Branchburg, N.J.) for detection of Chlam ydia trachomatis in 587 women. HC II CT-ID identified 62 of 65 confirmed C. trachomatis-positive patients (sensitivity of 95.4%) and was negative for 517 of 522 patients who were negative by culture and PCR (specificity of 99 .0%). Twelve of the 65 confirmed positive patients were negative by culture but sere identified by both HC II CT-ID and PCR (sensitivity of culture wa s 81.5% [P < 0.01]). In comparison, PCR detected 59 of 65 positive specimen s (sensitivity of 90.8%) and had a specificity of 99.6% (520 of 522). These results demonstrate that the Digene HC II CT-ID test is a highly sensitive and specific assay for the detection of C. trachomatis infection in endoce rvical specimens.