[Serum antibodies in cystic and alveolar hydatid disease (author's transl)].

Serum samples of 107 patients with cystic and 30 with alveolar hydatid disease were tested for antibodies with hydatid fluid and extract from cyst material of E. alveolaris as antigens. Complement-fixation, indirect haemagglutination and an indirect enzyme immune (ELISA) technique were employed. The results indicate an antibody picture which confirms the value of serum-antibodies in the diagnosis of hydatid disease. Diagnostically insufficient antibody formation was present in seven patients with cystic and two with alveolar hydatid disease. The indirect haemagglutination test with alveolaris antigen proved to be the most sensitive reaction for antibody demonstration of both echinococci, while the same antigen in the ELISA technique gave species-specific results in patients with E. alveolaris.