Title 

Role of Acid Phosphatase Test over Detection of Spermatozoa in Vaginal swabs- A Cross-sectional Study.

Authors

 Anamika Nath, Ranjit Kumar Das, Homeswar Samah

 Abstract

Background: Detection of intact spermatozoa is considered the gold standard in being corroborative evidence for recent sexual intercourse, however in many cases; the survivor is brought late for medical examination. Hence, the acid phosphatase test may be helpful. Aims and objective: i)To find out specificity and sensitivity of acid phosphatase test with hymenal tear. ii)To compare results of acid phosphatase test to that of detection of spermatozoa. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted at three tertiary hospitals for three years. The study group included sexual assault survivors brought for medical examination. Acid phosphatase was detected in vaginal swabs by the use of alpha-naphthyl phosphate as substrate and brentamine fast blue b. Microscopic examination was done for spermatozoa following hematoxylin and eosin stain. Results: Out of 67 cases, one tested positive for spermatozoa. 12 tested positive for the acid phosphatase test. Acid phosphatase positivity was 100% cases with a fresh hymenal tear, 16.7% with an old tear, and 7.4% with no tear, sensitivity was 25% and specificity was 92.59%. The sensitivity of the detection of spermatozoa was 2.5%. Conclusion: Acid phosphatase test has better sensitivity and specificity to that of detection of spermatozoa and should be routinely used in sexual assault cases.

keywords 

 Acid Phosphatase Spot Test, Hematoxylin and Eosin Stain, Spermatozoa, Sexual Assault.

DOI