title: Role of the faecolith in modern-day appendicitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevailing view on appendicitis is that the main aetiology is obstruction owing to faecoliths in adults and lymphoid hyperplasia in children. Faecoliths on imaging studies are believed to correlate well with appendicitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart review was  conducted of 1,014 emergency appendicectomy patients between 2001 and 2011. Faecolith prevalence in adult and paediatric appendicectomy specimens with and without perforation was studied. The sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) of computed tomography (CT) for identifying faecoliths  in the pathology specimen were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, faecoliths were found in 18.1% (178/986) of appendicitis specimens and 28.6% (8/28) of negative appendicectomies. Faecolith prevalence for positive cases was 29.9% (79/264) in paediatric patients and 13.7% (99/722) in adults (p<0.05).  Faecolith prevalence was 39.4% in perforated appendicitis but only 14.6% in non-perforated appendicitis (p<0.05). In adults, faecolith prevalence was 27.5% in perforated appendicitis and 12.0% in non-perforated appendicitis (p<0.05) while in paediatric patients, it was  56.1% in perforated appendicitis and 22.7% in non-perforated appendicitis (p=0.00). Sensitivity and PPV of preoperative CT in identifying faecoliths on pathology were 53.1% (86/162) and 44.8% (86/192) respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Faecolith prevalence is too low to consider the faecolith  the most common cause of non-perforated appendicitis. Faecoliths are more prevalent in paediatric appendicitis than in adult appendicitis. Preoperative CT is an unreliable predictor of faecoliths in pathology specimens.
authors: Metropolitan Hospital, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors: J P
authors: JP
authors: Singh
authors: J G
authors: JG
authors: Mariadason
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001062:Appendectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005244:Fecal Impaction / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult