Current status of imaging in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.
The diagnosis of acute appendicitis remains a problem in clinical surgery. Negative appendectomy represents misdiagnosis, and perforation may be the result of delayed diagnosis. The accuracy of diagnosis has improved little in decades, with a rate of 20% for negative appendectomy and 21% for perforation in one large series [Lewis FR: Arch Surg 110:677-685, 1975. Clearly, the need exists for a sensitive yet specific diagnostic imaging tool. The purpose of this paper is to review the role of currently available imaging modalities in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.
Chaudhuri
T K
TK
Nuclear Medicine Service, V.A. Medical Center, Hampton, Virginia 23667.
Fink
S
S
Mahon
C B
CB
Mahadevan
H
H
Farpour
A
A
D000208:Acute Disease; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity