[Indirect immunofluorescence in the serological diagnosis of chronic pyelonephritis (comparison with indirect haemagglutination and the Widal reaction (author's transl)].

Using indirect immunofluorescence, o-antibodies against the homologous causative organism were determined in 119 adults with chronic pyelonephritis, during a one to two-and-a-half year period. Humoral antibodies were determined in the same group of patients with the Widal reaction and indirect haemagglutination. The results were compared with those in a group of adults without renal disease, using the same serological reactions. In adults with chronic pyelonephritis the antibody titre (by immunofluorescence) was above normal limits (as obtained in the healthy group) in 63.1%. The corresponding results for the Widal reaction and indirect haemagglutination reaction were 16.5% and 12, respectively. Indirect immunofluorescence is thus clearly better than the other two serological methods in the diagnosis of chronic pyelonephritis.