Ahn et al developed a score for diagnosing appendicitis in an adult. The authors are from the University of Ulsan in Korea.
Patient selection: adult with suspected appendicitis
Parameters:
(1) migration of pain (M)
(2) elevated white blood cell count (E)
(3) shift to left (S)
(4) heel drop test (H)
Parameter
Finding
Points
migration of pain
no
0
yes
2
WBC count
<= 10,000 per µL
> 10,000 per µL
3
shift to left
absent
present
heel drop test
negative
positive
total score =
= SUM(points for all 4 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 10
• A score >= 5 has a sensitivity of 0.86 and specificity of 0.60.
• A score >= 8 has a sensitivity of 0.52 and specificity of 0.91.
Performance:
• The area under the ROC curve is 0.81.
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Specialty: Gastroenterology, Surgery, general
