Diagnostic Assays in Acute Pancreatitis

Abstract

Letters and Corrections1 September 1985Diagnostic Assays in Acute PancreatitisJOEL SPALTER, M.D.JOEL SPALTER, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-103-3-475 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptTo the editor: I read with interest the article by Steinberg and coworkers (1) that appeared in the May issue. In the Patients and Methods section, the efficiency of an assay is defined by the authors as the "arithmetic sum of the sensitivity and specificity," but this is not the definition used for the calculation in Table 2. In Table 2, the efficiency is calculated as the "sum of the true positives plus true negatives divided by the total number of patients" on whom the assay was done. The resultant efficiency, as calculated, is therefore a function not only...Reference1. STEINBERGGOLDSTEINDAVISSHAMMA'AANDERSON WSNJK. Diagnostic assays in acute pancreatitis: a study of sensitivity and specificity. Ann Intern Med. 1985:102:576-80. LinkGoogle Scholar1. STEINBERGGOLDSTEINDAVISSHAMMA'AANDERSON WSNJK. Diagnostic assays in acute pancreatitis: a study of sensitivity and specificity. Ann Intern Med. 1985:102: 576-80. LinkGoogle Scholar1. STEINBERGGOLDSTEINDAVISSHAMMA'AANDERSON WSNJK. Diagnostic assays in acute pancreatitis: a study of sensitivity and specificity. Ann Intern Med. 1985:102:576-80. LinkGoogle Scholar2. GALENGAMBINO RS. Sensitivity, specificity, prevalence and incidence. In: GALEN RS, GAMBINO SR, eds. Beyond Normality: The Predictive Value and Efficiency of Medical Diagnosis. New York: J. Wiley & Sons; 1975:10-27. Google Scholar3. GOLDSTEINSTEINBERGSHAMMA'ADAVIS SWJN. Use and misuse of the serum amylase [Abstract]. Gastroenterology. 1985;88:1399. Google Scholar4. GALENGAMBINO RS. Combination testing. In: GALEN RS, GAMBINO SR, eds. Beyond Normality: The Predictive Value and Efficiency of Medical Diagnoses. New York: J. Wiley & Sons; 1975:42-8. Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: JOEL SPALTER, M.D.Affiliations: South Broward Infection Control Consultants Hollywood, FL 33021 PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited by10 Pancreatic lesions in HIV-infected patients 1 September 1985Volume 103, Issue 3Page: 475-476KeywordsAcute pancreatitisSpecificity ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 September 1985 PDF downloadLoading ...