title: The uptake and use of the Monospot test in patients with tonsillitis.
abstract: The objective of the study was to ascertain the uptake of the Monospot test in St. James's hospital in Dublin over the five years 2002-2006 and to determine the percentage of Monospot tests which had a positive result. Using the HIPE, Electronic Patient Record (EPR) and Patient Access System (PAS) databases in St. James's Hospital, a cohort of 593 patients with a diagnosis of tonsillitis or infectious mononucleosis was identified. Fourteen patients met the exclusion criteria as outlined below leaving a valid pool of 579 patients. It was ascertained whether each patient had a Monospot performed and if so, whether the result was positive or negative. In total, 249 (43.0%) of the included patients had a Monospot test. Of these, 197 (79.1%) were negative and 29 (11.6%) were positive. In 23 (9.2%) cases, no result was available. The uptake of the Monospot increased over the five years studied. A positive Monospot impacts on treatment and follow up. We therefore recommend that one is carried out in all patients presenting with acute tonsillitis.
authors.affiliation: St Jame's Hospital, Dublin. mccormrb@tcd.ie
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McCormack
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: O'Shea
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014069:Tonsillitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology