Diagnostic Accuracy Of Acute Appendicitis Research Articles

DETERMINATION OF ACCURACY OF 3-MILLIMETER THIN AXIAL SECTIONS OF 64-SLICE MULTI-DETECTOR COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY SCAN IN DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS

Acute appendicitis is a common cause of acute abdominal pain requiring urgent surgical intervention. Timely diagnosis is crucial to prevent complications such as perforation and reduce morbidity and mortality rates. Clinical diagnosis alone can be challenging, leading to false positives and negatives. Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) has emerged as a valuable tool in diagnosing appendicitis, but its efficacy can be enhanced by optimizing imaging protocols, particularly by utilizing thinner reconstruction sections. We conducted a prospective study involving 150 patients with suspected acute appendicitis. Un-enhanced 64-slice MDCT was performed, and axial images reconstructed from 3mm thin sections were analyzed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and overall accuracy were calculated using SPSS version 19. Our study demonstrated a sensitivity of 97.8% and specificity of 76.9% for diagnosing acute appendicitis using 3mm thin section MDCT. The NPV and PPV were 76.9% and 97.8%, respectively, with an overall accuracy of 96%. Utilizing 3mm thin axial reconstruction in 64-slice MDCT significantly enhances diagnostic accuracy for acute appendicitis. This approach holds promise in reducing negative appendectomies and associated morbidity and mortality rates. Implementation of this imaging protocol can aid in timely diagnosis, optimizing patient care, and reducing unnecessary hospitalizations. 64-slice MDCT with 3mm thin section reconstructed images emerges as a highly accurate technique for diagnosing or excluding appendicitis in patients with equivocal presentations, contributing to improved patient outcomes and healthcare resource utilization.

Negative Appendectomy Rates -Current Prospective- A Review

The negative appendectomy rate is generally accepted in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis to prevent complications like perforation. This rate varies according to countries in western and eastern regions of the world. Clinical scoring systems, inflammatory markers and imaging have been used to reduce the negative appendectomy rate. The introduction of computerized tomography has improved the diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis. As this rate has been progressively decreasing over the past few years, a review article was done to look at the role of scoring systems, inflammatory markers, and imaging in diagnosing acute appendicitis and hence reduce the negative appendectomy rate.

Socioeconomic, Laboratory and Associated Factors in Patients Suffering From Acute Appendicitis

Background: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common clinical condition worldwide. In Pakistan, about 400,000 appendectomies are routinely carried out in surgical departments yearly. This study aims to find the latest and updated information regarding the diagnostic accuracy of CRP levels in AA. This will help surgeons make timely decisions, thus reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with complicated appendicitis. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed at KTH Peshawar from February to august 2018. It was designed to analyze C-reactive protein levels among acute appendicitis patients using positive and negative predictive values. Histopathologically confirmed appendicitis patients were included. Results: In the current study, 216 patients suffering from Acute appendicitis were studied observed. The symptoms duration was < 2days in 75% patients while >2 days symptoms were found in 25% population. Majority patients were poor (46%), followed by middle class (42%), and rich (12%). Obesity was only observed in 22% patients suffering from AA. Diabetes and hypertension was observed in 18% and 15% patients respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis was also calculated between CRP and Histopathology findings based on age, diabetes mellitus, gender, hypertension, obesity, and period of symptoms. Conclusion: Our study concludes that the acute appendicitis symptoms appeared in less than two days. Acute appendicitis predominantly found in poor and middle class patients. Acute appendicitis should be diagnosed based mostly on its clinical symptoms. Despite the fact that CRP is a particularly helpful marker in the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis, general surgeons must apply their clinical judgement. The function of CRP in acute appendicitis should be examined in future research with a bigger sample size. Keywords: C-reactive protein level, Socioeconomical factors, Acute Appendicitis, Diagnostic accuracy, Histopathological.

Comparative Study of Modified Alvarado Score and Eskelinen Score in Diagnosing Acute Appendicitis

Introduction: Despite many advances in diagnosis, diagnosing appendicitis remains difficult. Various diagnostic scoring systems have been developed in an attempt to improve the diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis. The study aimed to determine the accuracy of the Modified Alvarado and Eskelinen score in diagnosing acute appendicitis and to correlate the histopathological findings with the severity of acute appendicitis. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted in TUTH including 84 patients with a clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis managed surgically for 10 months. Modified Alvarado and Eskelinen Score were calculated and histopathological findings were correlated for predicting the severity of appendicitis. Results: Out of 84 patients Modified Alvarado Score had sensitivity and specificity of 67.79% and 32% when the score was taken as 7 and Eskelinen Score had sensitivity and specificity of 70.17% and 29.62% when the score was taken as 55. However, the sensitivity of the Modified Alvarado Score increased to 92.85% and specificity to 14.28% when the cut-off score was taken as 6. Modified Alvarado Score predicted 67% and 63% of uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis respectively and Eskelinen Score predicted 72% of uncomplicated and 67% of complicated appendicitis when the score was taken as 7 and 55 respectively. Conclusions: Both Modified Alvarado and Eskelinen Scores have low sensitivity in diagnosing acute appendicitis. With cut off for Modified Alvarado Score taken as 6, sensitivity increased. There was no correlation between the severity of appendicitis with the increase in Modified Alvarado and Eskelinen Score.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Serum Amyloid A in Acute Appendicitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Serum amyloid A has been widely reported as a useful biochemical marker in the diagnoses of acute appendicitis. The aim of this study was to appraise the diagnostic accuracy of serum amyloid A in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Methods: A systematic search of several databases was conducted. The search time was from the beginning of the databases creation to March 1, 2021, and the languages were restricted to English and Chinese. Clinical studies using serum amyloid A for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis were included. The overall sensitivity and specificity were calculated by using a bivariable mixed effects model. Heterogeneity was tested using I2 statistics. This study has been registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; no. CRD42021241343). Results: Five studies comprising 668 participants were eligible for inclusion. The overall sensitivity and specificity of serum amyloid A in diagnosing acute appendicitis were 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79-0.92) and 0.74 (95% CI, 0.59-0.85), respectively. The positive and negative likelihood were 3.3 (95% CI, 2.1-5.4) and 0.18 (95% CI, 0.11-0.28), respectively. The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves was 0.89 (95% CI, 0.86-0.91). The heterogeneity was significant (I2 = 82%; 95% CI [63%-100%]). Conclusions: Serum amyloid A has good diagnostic accuracy for acute appendicitis. It is expected that serum amyloid A could be helpful in the early clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

A Clinicopathological Study of Emergency Appendectomies to Evaluate Negative Appendectomy Rate in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of acute surgical abdomen worldwide. This clinicopathological study aims to determine the negative appendectomy rates of the surgically removed appendix in our centre and to determine the diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis by considering HPE as the gold standard. Method: A retrospective study was undertaken to review the histopathology reports of all the emergency appendicectomy specimens submitted to the Department of Pathology Government medical college and Hospital, Jammu; from 30th June 2020 to 1st July 2021. Patient’s biodata, clinical signs and symptoms were extracted from the request forms. Result: A total of 250 appendices were received during the 1-year study period. The male to female ratio was 3.1:1 with age ranging from 5 to 75 years of age. Acute appendicitis was found in 50.4%, followed by suppurative appendicitis (20%), perforated appendix (15.2), gangrenous appendix (6.4%), acute on chronic appendicitis (8%) and 2 cases of carcinoid tumor (0.8%). NAR was calculated as 4.8%. The diagnostic sensitivity was calculated to be 95.2%. Conclusion: HPE is the gold standard test and helps to determine the negative appendectomy rates which is regarded as the quality indicator of the treating centre.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound in diagnosing acute appendicitis in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Lack of timely diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) can lead to perforation and peritonitis, which might be associated with complications such as miscarriage, preterm delivery, fetal loss, and even maternal mortality. The aim of the present systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the accuracy of ultrasonography (US) for diagnosing AA in pregnant patients. We performed the present systematic review and meta-analysis based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). Using a pre-designed standard datasheet, the two authors summarized the data of each study independently. Pregnant women with diagnosed or suspected AA, who have undergone ultrasonography, as well as using CT scan or surgery as the standard method, were included. A total of 8 studies consisting of 1593 patients were included. The main analysis showed that the overall sensitivity and specificity were 77.6% and 75.3% for US in diagnosing AA in pregnancy. The sensitivity of US in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy were 69%, 63%, and 51%, respectively. While the corresponding figures for specificity were 85%, 85%, and 65%. There was a significant difference in the diagnostic performance of US between the first two trimesters and the third one. The DORs in these three trimesters were 36, 26, and 1.92, respectively. Ultrasound evaluation showed a low diagnostic accuracy for acute appendicitis in pregnant women, especially during the third trimester. These patients should be diagnosed early and accurately to prevent both complications and unnecessary operations. It can be recommended to consider alternative imaging, mostly after negative or uncertain US.

Paediatric Acute Appendicitis: A Comparison of Diagnostic Accuracy of Three Pre-operative Diagnostic Modalities.

The diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) is usually clear cut but sometimes there is atypical presentation of this condition in children. There is a need to determine and compare the diagnostic accuracy of these three pre-operative diagnostic modalities: Paediatric Appendicitis Score (PAS), abdominal ultrasonographic scan (USS) findings, and serum C-reactive proteins (CRPs). The objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the three diagnostic modalities and to compare each diagnostic test result with the histopathological results of the appendix specimens. This was a prospective cross-sectional study that involved children aged 4-15 years with suspected AA who presented at the emergency paediatric unit of a tertiary health care hospital in North Central, Nigeria. The PAS, quantitative serum CRP, and abdominal USS were performed for all eligible patients. A total of 43 patients were included in this study. Forty appendicectomy specimens (93%) were histologically confirmed to be AA and three appendicectomy specimens (7%) were normal appendix. The diagnostic accuracy values of PAS, abdominal USS, and CRP were 95.3%, 93.0%, and 90.7%, respectively. This study demonstrated that PAS, abdominal USS, and serum CRP provided useful diagnostic accuracy for AA in children.

The utility of spectral Doppler evaluation of acute appendicitis.

The use of spectral Doppler, peak systolic velocity (PSV), and resistive index (RI) imaging criteria to improve the accuracy of acute appendicitis diagnosis is hypothesized. Graded compression ultrasound was performed for suspected patients. The spectral Doppler evaluation was conducted while observing the appendix. A total of 152 patients (82 males and 70 females, ages 4-63years, mean age of 24.5years) were examined using the spectral Doppler waveform between 2018 and 2019. RI and PSV values of patients with and without appendicitis were compared to histopathologic findings. SPSS 26 was used to analyze the data, including using descriptive statistics and measures of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). Appendicitis was confirmed in 95 patients (62.5%) and rejected in 57 patients (37.5%). For the diagnosis of appendicitis, the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) for RI (0.92 with 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88, 0.97; P = 0.001) and PSV (0.96, with 95% CI: 0.93, 1.00; P = 0.001) was calculated. The discriminatory RI ≥ 0.49 demonstrated high sensitivity (90.5%) and low specificity (86%), and the discriminatory PSV ≥ 9.6cm/s had high specificity (94.7%) and sensitivity (94.7%) for appendicitis. By incorporating spectral Doppler criteria into routine graded compression ultrasound, the diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis was increased. In comparison, high PSV and RI values of the appendix with a cut-off point of 9.6cm/s and 0.49 differ significantly between positive and negative appendectomy patients.

A Comparison between the Diagnostic Accuracy of Alvarado and Tzanaki Scoring Systems in Acute Appendicitis

Aim: To find out how accurate the Alvarado and Tzanaki scoring systems are in diagnosing acute appendicitis taking histopathology as gold standard. Methods: A cross-sectional prospective study was conducted from August 2019 to July 2020 at Department of General Surgery, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad. Sixty patients were included, all of whom had appendectomies after a clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Samples were submitted for histopathology, which was used as the gold standard for the definitive diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), diagnostic accuracy and negative appendectomy rate of Alvarado and Tzanaki scoring systems was calculated using SPSS version 23. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of Alvarado score at optimal cut-off threshold of ≥7.0, were calculated as 74%, 55%, 90%, 27% and 71.66% respectively. The cut-off threshold point of Tzanaki score was set at more than 8, which yielded a 94.11% sensitivity and an 88.88% specificity. The positive predictive value was 99.95% and the negative predictive value was 72.72%. The Alvarado and Tzanaki scoring systems had negative appendectomy rates of 9.5% and 2.04%, respectively. Conclusion: The Tzanaki scoring system has a better diagnostic accuracy for acute appendicitis as compared to the Alvarado score. Keywords: Acute appendicitis, Alvarado score, Tzanaki score

“A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RIPASA SCORE AND ALVARADO SCORE IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS”

Acute appendicitis is the most common condition encountered in the Emergency department .Alvarado and Modied Alvarado scores are the most commonly used scoring system used for diagnosing acute appendicitis.,but its performance has been found to be poor in certain population . Hence our aim was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of RIPASA and ALVARADO Scoring system and study and compare sensitivity, specicity and predictive values of these scoring systems. The study was conducted in Government district hospital Nandyal . We enrolled 176 patients who presented with RIF pain . Both RIPASA and ALVARADO were applied to them. Final diagnosis was conrmed either by CT scan, intra operative nding or post operative HPE report. Sensitivity,specicity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, diagnostic accuracy was calculated both for RIPASA and ALVARADO. It was found that sensitivity and specicity of the RIPASA score in our study are 98.7% and 83.3%, respectively. PPV and NPV were 98.1% and 88.2% and sensitivity and specicity of the Alvardo score in our study are 94.3% and 83.3%, respectively. PPV and NPV were 98% and 62.5%.Diagnostic accuracy of RIPASA score and Alvarado score are 97% and 93% respectively. RIPASA is a more specic and accurate scoring system in our local population when compared to ALVARADO . It reduces the number of missed appendicitis cases and also convincingly lters out the group of patients that would need a CT scan for diagnosis (score 5-7.5 ) BACKGROUND: Acute appendicitis is one of the most commonly dealt surgical emergencies, with a lifetime prevalence rate of approximately 1 one in seven. The incidence is 1.5–1.9 per 1,000 in the male and female population, and is approximately 1.4 times greater in men than in women. Despite being a common problem, it remains a difcult diagnosis to establish, particularly among the young, the elderly and females of reproductive age, where a host of other genitourinary and gynaecological inammatory conditions can present with signs and symptoms that are 2 similar to those of acute appendicitis. A delay in performing an appendectomy in order to improve its diagnostic accuracy increases the risk of appendicular perforation and peritonitis, which in turn increases morbidity and mortality. A variable combination of clinical signs and symptoms has been used together with laboratory ndings in several scoring systems proposed for suggesting the probability of Acute Appendicitis and the possible subsequent management pathway. The Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Appendicitis (RIPASA) and ALVARADO score are new diagnostic scoring systems developed for the diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis and has been shown to have signicantly higher sensitivity, specicity and diagnostic accuracy. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES PRIMARY OBJECT 1. To compare RIPASA Scoring system and ALVARADO Scoring system in terms of diagnostic accuracy in Acute Appendicitis. 2. To study and compare sensitivity, specicity and predictive values of above scoring systems. SECONDARY OBJECT 1. To study the rate of negative appendicectomy based on above scoring systems. CONCLUSION: The RIPASA score is a simple scoring system with high sensitivity and specicity for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The 14 clinical parameters are all present in a good clinical history and examination and can be easily and quickly applied. Therefore, a decision on the management can be made early. Although the RIPASA score was developed for the local population of Brunei, we believe that it should be applicable to other regions. The RIPASA score presents greater Diagnostic accuracy and Sensitivity and equal specicity as a diagnostic test compared to the Alvarado score and is helpful in making appropriate therapeutic decisions. In hospitals like ours, the diagnosis of AA relies greatly on the clinical evaluation performed by surgeons. An adequate clinical scoring system would avoid diagnostic errors, maintaining a satisfactory low rate of negative appendectomies by adequate patient stratication, while limiting patient exposure to ionizing radiation, since 21 there is an increased risk of developing cancer with computed tomography, particularly for the paediatric age group.

Role of White blood cell count in Diagnostic accuracy of Acute Appendicitis

Objective: To assess the role of white blood cell count (WBC) in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and its relation to histopathological findings.
 Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at Aziz Fatimah Hospital Faisalabad. One hundred patients with acute appendicitis were encompassed in our work. Diagnosis was confirmed after careful clinical assessment aided with classical sign and symptoms. White Blood cell count of every patient was done from laboratory of our hospital. Specimen of appendix of every patient was sent for histopathology. In addition, pre-operative white blood cell count (WBC) was compared with postoperative histopathology reports to assess WBC count's significance in the identification of acute appendicitis.
 Results: Out of 100 cases, 63 were male, and 37 were females. Age of the patients was between 12 to 55 years, mean age being 20.9 years. Commonest age group was 17 to 30 years (n=73). The sensitivity and specificity of WBC count were calculated 27% and 43.75% respectively, while positive and negative predictive value was 71.87 and 10.1%, respectively. Mean ± SD of TLC of patients with normal and inflamed appendix was 10781±291.0 and 95908 ± 329.43respectively, this difference was not statistically different (p value=0.16). Neutrophils count was 66. 86% in patients with inflamed appendix and nearly equal to this 65.18% was noticed with normal appendix on histopathology (p value=0.15). Odd Ratio were insignificant showing WBCs are nor independent predictors of acute appendicitis (p value 0.30)
 Conclusion: White blood cell count is not a very good and reliable investigation for diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Patient can be having acute appendicitis with normal white blood cell count.

Diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis by comparing clinical judgment of surgeons and Alvarado scoring in suspected acute appendicitis

Background: The Alvarado score is a clinical scoring system used in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The aim of the study was to compare the clinical judgment of surgeons and Alvarado score in diagnosing acute appendicitis within Nepalese people and to refine the score and suggest a new score to make a more accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis.Methods: In this prospective, parallel-group, quasi-randomized study of patients presenting at a tertiary hospital in eastern Nepal with suspected appendicitis during 1 year were assigned in weekly alternation to either group A or group B. The group A patients were treated on the basis of their Alvarado score, and the group B patients based on the clinical judgment. The correctness of the methods was assessed by the final histology.Results: In this study, the mean age of patients in Alvarado group was 26.45 years and in clinical judgment was 28.68 years. The sensitivity, the specificity, the diagnostic accuracy, the positive predictive value and negative appendectomies in Alvarado group were 95.5%, 68.9%, 90.91%, 93.4% and 6.56% respectively whereas in clinical judgment group were 98.51%, 85.71%,496.4%, 97.04% and 3.59% respectively.Conclusions: This study showed clinical judgment to be more reliable in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis than the Alvarado score, but the score is a useful diagnostic aid, especially for young colleagues. The use of the new scoring system has become easier. It includes fewer criteria as well as an important and sensitive predictor: the ultrasound investigation.

Diagnostic Role of C- Reactive protein in Acute Appendicitis

Introduction: Acute appendicitis is the common surgical disease however, accurate diagnosis and exclusion of acute appendicitis always remains challenge to the surgeons. Although diagnoses rely mostly on clinical examination but C- reactive protein (CRP) can be of valuable armamentarium. Hence, this study was conducted to find the diagnostic role of C-reactive protein in Acute Appendicitis
 Methods: A retrospective cross sectional study was conducted among 100 respondents in the Department of Surgery, Bharatpur Hospital from September 2019 to August 2020. Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Committee (IRC) Bharatpur Hospital. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS version 16 using descriptive statistics.
 Results: Total of 100 patients was included in study with mean age 31 years old.Out of which 60% were male and 40% were female. CRP value was raised (>6) in 87 (87%) cases and normal in 13(13%) cases. Among those with raised CRP, three patients had normal appendix histopathologically and 57 had uncomplicated appendicitis and 27 had complicated appendicitis histopathologically with sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and diagnostic accuracy rate of 95.45 %, 75 %, 96.55 % and 93% respectively. When white blood count (WBC) and CRP level were combined with HPE findings, its sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy rate were 100%, 80% and 93.83 % respectively.
 Conclusions: CRP improves the diagnostic accuracy of Acute appendicitis. The adjunct use of CRP and leucocyte count can effectively reduce the negative appendectomy rate.

Combination of Modified Alvarado Score and Ultrasonography to Improve the Diagnostic Accuracy in Acute Appendicitis

Combination of Modified Alvarado Score and Ultrasonography to Improve the Diagnostic Accuracy in Acute Appendicitis

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography and scoring systems: The effects on the negative appendectomy rate and gender.

Despite the development of clinical, laboratory, and imaging methods, the diagnosis of acute appendicitis is not always easy, and negative appendectomy rates are still high. This study aims to reveal the effects of different scoring systems on the diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis and negative appendectomy rates, alone or when evaluated together with ultrasonography. In this study, 202 consecutive patients who underwent emergency appendectomy for acute appendicitis were included. Clinical scores of all patients were preoperatively calculated using Ohmann, Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Appendicitis (RIPASA), Lintula, Eskelinen, and Alvarado scoring systems. Abdominal ultrasonography (USG) was performed randomly in all cases. The sensitivity and specificity of scoring systems were calculated according to the threshold values. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated using ROC analysis. In the regression model, histological diagnosis of appendicitis was used as the dependent variable, while scoring systems and USG were preferred as independent variables. The negative appendectomy rate was 15.8%. In the diagnosis of acute appendicitis, Ohmann was the most predictive for both genders (DOR=24.2, 95% CI 6.98-84.44). Similarly, the lowest negative appendectomy rates were obtained with the Ohmann score as 6.9% in females and 3.4% in males. When the scores were combined with USG, the rate of diagnostic accuracy for acute appendicitis was not increased. However, when Ohmann and USG were combined, negative appendectomy rates were further reduced for women from 6.9% to 4%. In addition to being a good diagnostic predictor of acute appendicitis in male and female patients, Ohmann score provides the best negative appendectomy rates. The combination of USG and scoring systems does not increase the diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis. However, negative appendectomy rates are significantly reduced when the USG and Ohmann scale are used together in females, while this reduction is minimal in men.

A Retrospective Comparison Study of Ultrasonography and Computed Tomography Scan in Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis in the Pediatric Population

Background: Ultrasonography (US) has largely become the primary diagnostic imaging modality for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) in pediatric patients. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the diagnostic accuracy of helical computed tomography (CT) scans and graded compression US for the diagnosis of AA in the pediatric population. Methods: Between January 2011 and December 2013, 431 pediatric patients (aged 5 - 18 years) who presented with acute abdominal pain and received either a CT scan, US, or both for the diagnosis of AA were retrospectively reviewed from an IRB-approved institution-wide database. Sensitivities and specificities of both imaging modalities were calculated and compared. Results: Patients were allocated into two cohorts depending on whether they received an US (239/431) or CT (192/431). Clinical symptoms and laboratory values were noted and analyzed for the significance of mesenteric lymphadenitis in conjunction with appendicitis and for differential diagnosis. A total of 182 CT cases and 227 US cases were verified as appendicitis via histopathology report. The overall sensitivity and specificity of CT imaging were determined to be 91.2% and 70%, respectively, while the sensitivity and specificity for US imaging were 52.8% and 83.3%. Conclusion: Helical CT imaging in the pediatric population has provided a higher sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy for AA. However, the diagnostic benefit of US cannot be excluded in this patient population. Further research is needed on whether CT imaging should be used primarily for the diagnostic approach to AA in pediatric patients complaining of acute abdominal pain. J Curr Surg. 2020;10(3):21-27 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jcs404

Retraction Note: Diagnostic Accuracy of Acute Appendicitis by Ultrasound in Hospital Emergency

Retraction Note: Diagnostic Accuracy of Acute Appendicitis by Ultrasound in Hospital Emergency

Accuracy of change in leukocytic count in relation to clinical pictures and histopathology in diagnosis of acute appendicitis

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of change in leukocytes count in comparison with clinical pictures and histopathology in diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Background The diagnosis of acute appendicitis is primarily clinical and should be made on clinical symptoms and signs. However, some patients have equivocal physical findings and may be admitted for a period of observation. We suggest that these patients could also have serial total white cell counts taken as an aid for diagnosis. Patients and methods The study is a prospective randomized clinical trial. This study was conducted on patients presenting to the General Surgery Department in Menoufia University Hospitals and Al Minshawy General Hospital in Tanta during the period from March 2017 to March 2018. This study included 68 patients with acute lower abdominal pain suspecting acute appendicitis divided into two groups: A (34 patients) and B (34 patients). Patients in group A had normal leukocytes count and patients in group B had a high leukocyte count. All specimens of appendectomies were sent for histopathological examination. Results The leukocytes count has a sensitivity of 58%, specificity of 85%, accuracy of 63%, and negative appendectomy rate of 19%. Conclusion It was found that if the total leukocytes count and neutrophils were highly elevated and correlated with the clinical picture, the diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis was more increased.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Acute Appendicitis by Ultrasound in Hospital Emergency

Background Acute appendicitis is the most common medical condition requiring immediate abdominal surgery.Medical ultrasound is a non-intrusive, non-expensive and available diagnostic method. In this study, the accuracy of ultrasound in diagnosis of acute appendicitis in hospital emergency was evaluated. Materials and Methods This retrospective cohort study was performed at Ahvaz Imam Khomeini hospital (Ahvaz city, Iran). The records of outpatient and inpatient of this hospital were studied to extract demographic information about the patients and radiological reports indicating the occurrence or exclusion of acute appendicitis and post-appendectomy report to allow for results comparison. Patient from 5-70 years included, with clinical suspicious to acute appendicitis, pathologic report also reviewed as gold standard of diagnosis. Results A total of 163 study subjects met the inclusion criteria,theage of the subjects ranged from 6 to 63 years. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 98.1, 96 and 100%, respectively. The positive predictive value was 100%, while the negative predictive value was 82.35%. Diagnostic accuracy was 100% for the under-15 age group and 94.06% for the above 15 years age group. Conclusion The results showed that the medical ultrasound reports could be considered more credible in diagnosing acute appendicitis in under-15 male subjects which paves the way for more accurate planning of treatment and presenting patients with abdominal pains for surgery.