title: Magnetic resonance imaging of acute appendicitis in pregnancy: a 5-year multiinstitutional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis during pregnancy in a multiinstitutional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this multicenter retrospective study, the cases of pregnant women who underwent MRI evaluation of abdominal or pelvic pain and who had clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis between June 1, 2009, and July 31, 2014, were reviewed. All MRI examinations with positive findings for acute appendicitis were confirmed with surgical pathologic information. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive values, and positive predictive values were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated, and area under the curve analysis was performed for each participating institution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the cases that were evaluated, 9.3% (66/709) had MRI findings of acute appendicitis. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive values were 96.8%, 99.2%, 99.0%, 92.4%, and 99.7%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between centers that were included in the study (pair-wise probability values ranged from 0.12-0.99).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRI is useful and reproducible in the diagnosis of suspected acute appendicitis during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC. Electronic address: lauren_burke@med.unc.edu.
authors.forename: Lauren M B
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
authors.forename: Mustafa R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bashir
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Frank H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Evan S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Siegelman
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC.
authors.forename: Mamdoh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alobaidy
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
authors.forename: Tracy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Jaffe
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.
authors.forename: Shahid M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Suzanne L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Bonnie L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Garon
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Aytekin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oto
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reinhold
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ascher
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: Danielle K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Demulder
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA.
authors.forename: Shaun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Best
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borer
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Fanny
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pinel-Giroux
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC.
authors.forename: Isabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Resende
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC.
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Semelka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: appendicitis; magnetic resonance imaging; pregnancy