AspenBio Pharma Reports Strong Results with Appendicitis Triage Blood Test from Large Multiple Hosp...(missed or delayed diagnosis. Continu...),Health

Continued Bealer, "A test like AppyScore is a very appealing diagnostic strategy, as it provides an objective, quantitative result that any physician can interpret. In addition, the extreme sensitivity of AppyScore positions it perfectly as screen or triage test. This type of strategy will be a welcomed addition to the diagnostic armamentarium that physicians currently possess for appendicitis, where the current information is frequently subjective, qualitative, and less sensitive."

Trends and Observations from the Study

Comparison with C-reactive protein. C-reactive protein ("CRP") is an acute-phase protein marker that is often used as an aid in the diagnosis of appendicitis. A subset (n=235 patients) of the study also compared AppyScore results to tests based on CRP levels. Results of this study showed that CRP has a relatively poor sensitivity (78%) relative to that of AppyScore (98%) among those with appendicitis, and this performance difference is statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Additionally, CRP and AppyScore values were compared in the subset of 100 normal presumably healthy individuals. Only 46% of these normal donors had negative CRP values compared with 90% of these same normal donors having a negative AppyScore (p < 0.001).

Children 13 year of age and younger. Children 13 years of age and younger are an especially difficult challenge in the diagnosis of appendicitis for several reasons. Due to generally lower body fat in this age group, the CT scan imaging is more challenging. Also, this age group is less able to articulate their condition to the physician. In the present study there were only 32 patients (10% of the 311 total evaluable) in the range of 13 years of age and younger. This 13 and under subset, however, represented a higher percentage of appendectomies (surgeries) (63%), almost double the appendectomy rate in our entire study population (35%). Specifically, for these children there
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