Articles: sensitivity-specificity.
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In this prospective study we determine the diagnostic value of coronary CT angiography (CTA) and calcium imaging in low to intermediate risk acute chest pain patients. ⋯ Coronary CTA outperforms calcium imaging in the triage of patients suspected of developing ACS. Absence of plaque on coronary CTA allows safe discharge. Coronary CTA has incremental value to clinical risk scores and has the potential to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2013
Can the presence of significant coagulopathy be useful to exclude symptomatic acute pulmonary embolism?
Thrombocytopenia or an abnormal coagulation profile is not rare in hospitalised patients who have symptoms consistent with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). Theoretically, coagulopathy is more likely to occur in patients with pneumonia than acute PE. This study aimed to assess whether the presence of coagulopathy could be used to exclude acute PE in patients with symptoms and signs consistent with acute PE. ⋯ Positive and negative likelihood ratios of coagulopathy in differentiating acute PE or pneumonia were both unsatisfactory. As a continuous predictor, platelet counts, international normalised ratio, activated partial thromboplastin time and plasma fibrinogen concentrations were also not useful in differentiating between acute PE and other pulmonary pathologies (areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were all close to 0.5). In conclusion, the presence of significant acquired coagulopathy cannot be used to suggest pneumonia or exclude symptomatic acute PE when the prevalence or pre-test probability of acute PE is not low.
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Comparative Study
Utility of infrared thermography for screening febrile subjects.
To assess the utility of remote-sensing infrared thermography as a screening tool for fever. ⋯ Forehead infrared thermography readings from a distance should be abandoned for fever screening. Although maximum lateral or frontal infrared thermography temperatures have reasonable correlations with core temperatures and areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves, the sensitivity-specificity combination might still not be high enough for screening febrile conditions, especially at border crossings with huge numbers of passengers.
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Prior studies have reported conflicting results regarding the utility of ultrasound in the diagnosis of traumatic pneumothorax (PTX) because they have used sonologists with extensive experience. This study evaluates the characteristics of ultrasound for PTX for a large cohort of trauma and emergency physicians. ⋯ In a large heterogenous group of clinicians who typically care for trauma patients, the sonographic evaluation for pneumothorax was as accurate as supine chest radiography. Thoracic ultrasound may be helpful in the initial evaluation of patients with truncal trauma.