Final answer:
Laboratory diagnosis of syphilis primarily includes darkfield or brightfield microscopy and two types of serologic tests: nontreponemal and treponemal. Confirmatory tests, particularly treponemal tests, are crucial for accurate diagnosis since they detect antibodies to spirochete antigens. Diagnosis of neurosyphilis further necessitates cerebrospinal fluid testing.
Step-by-step explanation:
Syphilis confirmation is primarily through laboratory diagnosis. The initial methods for diagnosing early syphilis involve darkfield or brightfield microscopy to detect the causative bacteria, Treponema pallidum. If these are not available, serologic tests come into play, specifically the nontreponemal tests like the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) and rapid plasma reagin (RPR), and the treponemal tests such as T. pallidum passive particle agglutination (TP-PA), fluorescent T. pallidum antibody absorption (FTA-ABS), and enzyme-linked immunoassays (EIAs). Confirmatory diagnosis should be done using treponemal tests since they directly test for antibodies against the spirochete antigens of the bacterium. It's essential to note that neurosyphilis requires additional testing using cerebrospinal fluid for accurate diagnosis.