title: High serum cancer antigen 125 level indicates perforation in acute appendicitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The diagnosis of acute appendicitis is sometimes challenging, and prompt evaluation is required because of the risk of complications if not treated appropriately.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to evaluate whether cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) has diagnositic accuracy and predictor of the severity in acute appendicitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty patients with acute appendicitis were recruited prospectively in this study between May 2014 and March 2015. Blood samples were obtained to measure CA-125 levels before appendectomy. Of the 57 patients, 10 had perforated or gangrenous appendicitis intraoperatively. The CA-125 levels were significantly higher in patients with perforated or gangrenous appendicitis than patients with uncomplicated appendicitis (49.9 vs 10.5 U/mL, P=.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cancer antigen 125 levels in patients with highly suspected or confirmed appendicitis could help clinicians determine the severity of the disease.
authors.affiliation: General Surgery, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: drerdinccetinkaya@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Erdinç
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Çetinkaya
authors.affiliation: General Surgery, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erdoğan
authors.affiliation: General Surgery, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Özgür
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Akgül
authors.affiliation: General Surgery, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Canbert
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Çelik
authors.affiliation: General Surgery, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tez
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001062:Appendectomy; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005734:Gangrene; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018394:CA-125 Antigen