Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis Endocervical Infections by Ligase Chain Reaction versus ACCESS Chlamydia Antigen Assay

Ligase chain reaction (LCR) was compared with ACCESS immunoassay for detection of chlamydial infections in females. Despite efforts to improve ACCESS performance by evaluation of specimens that were in the test performance “grey zone,” LCR remained more sensitive and was less expensive to perform. ACCESS had a sensitivity of 83.9%, a specificity of 99.7%, a positive predictive value of 96.3%, and a negative predictive value of 98.5%.