Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Congenital Toxoplasmosis Diagnosis: Advances and Challenges

Figure 3

Schematic model represents the types of samples and methods used to T. gondii detection before and after birth. Maternal peripheral blood (M-PB), prenatal cord blood (P-CB), and amniotic fluid (AF) are the samples collected for gestational and congenital toxoplasmosis diagnosis before birth. After birth, the samples that can be collected are maternal peripheral blood (M-PB), colostrum (CL), placenta (PL), amniotic fluid (AF), neonatal cord blood (N-CB), and neonatal peripheral blood (N-PB) to confirm the congenital toxoplasmosis. The target and methods most used to detect the infection are Toxoplasma DNA by PCR; the parasite by bioassay (culture and/or mouse inoculation); and antibodies anti-Toxoplasma by immunoassay. PCR: polymerase chain reaction. Figure created using images from Servier medical art by Servier licensed under creative commons attribution 3.0 France (CC BY 3.0 FR).