Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) remains a difficult disease to diagnose, especially when it manifests as the noneffusive or dry form. Signs are often vague, and no specific test exists for the disease. These researchers compared a battery of tests often utilized to help in diagnosis of FIP in order to determine their relative usefulness. Using 16 cats with confirmed FIP and 14 cats without, the following tests were evaluated:
- serum protein electrophoresis
- α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) on peripheral blood
- screening reverse-transcription nested PCR (RT-nPCR) on the 3’–untranslated region (3’-UTR) and spike (S) gene sequencing on peripheral blood, body cavity effusions, and tissue
- body cavity cytology and delta total nucleated cell count (ΔTNC).
The results are summarized in the tables below:
The combination of one test with high likelihood ratio (LR+) with one with low likelihood ratio (LR-) may improve the diagnostic power of most tests used.
(MK)