The shortened combined clonidine and arginine test for growth hormone deficiency is practical and specific: a diagnostic accuracy study

Author(s):  
Reem Al Khalifah ◽  
Lina Moisan ◽  
Helen Bui

AbstractThe growth hormone (GH) stimulation protocols for clonidine and arginine tests are non-standardized and can be lengthy. We examined the specificity of both tests using a shorter duration of timed samples: 90 min for clonidine and 60 min for arginine.We retrospectively studied all children who had GH stimulation with clonidine and arginine to test for GH deficiency (GHD). We compared the diagnostic accuracy of both reference and new shortened test (index).We reviewed 243 charts (11.4±4.1 years old; 74.5% males). The combined reference test was performed on 159 children, 29 (18.3%) tested positive for GHD on the combined index test, Kappa 0.98, false positive rate 1 (0.8%), specificity 0.99, 95th CI (0.96–1), and p=1.0. The specificity of both the clonidine and arginine single index tests was 0.98%.The shortened clonidine and arginine stimulation index tests have good specificity. This is a viable option for testing children for GHD.

Author(s):  
H Pang ◽  
YS Wong ◽  
BHK Yip ◽  
ALH Hung ◽  
WCW Chu ◽  
...  

Scoliosis screening is important for timely initiation of brace treatment to mitigate curve progression in skeletally immature children. Scoliosis screening programs frequently include the protocol of referring children screened positive with Scoliometer and Moiré Topography for confirmatory standard radiography. Despite being highly sensitive (88%) for detecting those who require specialist referral, the screening program was found to have more than 50% false positive rate that leads to unnecessary radiation exposure. Radiation-free ultrasound has been reported to be reliable for quantitative assessment of scoliosis curves. The aim of this prospective diagnostic accuracy study was to determine the accuracy of ultrasound in determining the referral status for children initially screened positive for scoliosis. 442 schoolchildren with a mean Cobb angle of 14.0 ± 6.6° were recruited. Using x-ray as the gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound in predicting the correct referral status were 92.3% and 51.6% respectively. ROC curve analysis revealed an area under curve of 0.735 for ultrasound alone and 0.832 for ultrasound plus scoliometer measurement. The finding provided strong evidences on the accuracy of ultrasound in determining the referral status that could result in more than 50% reduction of unnecessary radiation exposure for children undergoing scoliosis screening.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideyuki Iwayama ◽  
Sachiko Kitagawa ◽  
Jyun Sada ◽  
Ryosuke Miyamoto ◽  
Tomohito Hayakawa ◽  
...  

AbstractWe evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) for screening growth hormone deficiency (GHD) to determine the usefulness of IGF-1 as a screening test. Among 298 consecutive children who had short stature or decreased height velocity, we measured IGF-1 levels and performed growth hormone (GH) secretion test using clonidine, arginine, and, in cases with different results of the two tests, L-dopa. Patients with congenital abnormalities were excluded. GHD was defined as peak GH ≤ 6.0 ng/mL in the two tests. We identified 60 and 238 patients with and without GHD, respectively. The mean IGF-1 standard deviation (SD) was not significantly different between the GHD and non-GHD groups (p = 0.23). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated the best diagnostic accuracy at an IGF-1 cutoff of − 1.493 SD, with 0.685 sensitivity, 0.417 specificity, 0.25 positive and 0.823 negative predictive values, and 0.517 area under the curve. Correlation analysis revealed that none of the items of patients’ characteristics increased the diagnostic power of IGF-1. IGF-1 level had poor diagnostic accuracy as a screening test for GHD. Therefore, IGF-1 should not be used alone for GHD screening. A predictive biomarker for GHD should be developed in the future.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideyuki Iwayama ◽  
Sachiko Kitagawa ◽  
Jyun Sada ◽  
Ryosuke Miyamoto ◽  
Tomohito Hayakawa ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) for screening growth hormone deficiency (GHD) to determine the usefulness of IGF-1 as a screening test. Methods On 298 consecutive children who had short stature or decreased height velocity, we measured IGF-1 levels and performed growth hormone (GH) secretion test using clonidine, arginine, and, in cases with different results of the two tests, L-dopa. Patients with congenital abnormalities were excluded. GHD was defined as peak GH ≤ 6.0 ng/mL in the two tests. Results We identified 60 and 238 patients with and without GHD, respectively. The mean IGF-1 (SD) was not significantly different between the GHD and non-GHD groups (p = 0.23). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated the best diagnostic accuracy at an IGF-1 cutoff of −1.493 SD, with sensitivity of 0.685, specificity of 0.417, positive predictive value of 0.25, negative predictive value of 0.823, and area under the curve of 0.517. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient showed that IGF-1 (SD) was weakly correlated with age, bone age, height velocity before examination, weight (SD), and BMI (SD) and very weakly correlated with height (SD), target height (SD), and maximum GH peak. Conclusion IGF-1 level had poor diagnostic accuracy as a screening test for GHD. Correlation analysis revealed that none of the items increased the diagnostic power of IGF-1. Therefore, IGF-1 should not be used alone in the screening of GHD. A predictive biomarker for GHD should be developed in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. e262-e267
Author(s):  
Henry Alexander Easley ◽  
Todd Michael Beste

Objectives To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a multivariable prediction model, the Shoulder Screen (Perigen, Inc.), and compare it with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines to prevent harm from shoulder dystocia. Study Design The model was applied to two groups of 199 patients each who delivered during a 4-year period. One group experienced shoulder dystocia and the other group delivered without shoulder dystocia. The model's accuracy was analyzed. The performance of the model was compared with the ACOG guideline. Results The sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values of the model were 23.1, 99.5, 97.9, and 56.4%, respectively. The sensitivity of the ACOG guideline was 10.1%. The false-positive rate of the model was 0.5%. The accuracy of the model was 61.3%. Conclusion A multivariable prediction model can predict shoulder dystocia and is more accurate than ACOG guidelines.


2013 ◽  
Vol 04 (02) ◽  
pp. 140-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepti Joshi ◽  
Keerthi Kundana ◽  
Apurva Puranik ◽  
Rajnish Joshi

ABSTRACT Background: The gold standard for diagnosis of meningitis depends on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination by microscopy, biochemistry, and culture, which require an experienced microscopist and laboratory support. We conducted this study to determine if urinary reagent strip is useful to make a semi‑quantitative assessment of protein, glucose, and presence of leukocyte esterase in CSF. Materials and Methods: All consecutive CSF samples were evaluated in a blinded fashion. CSF was tested using Combur‑10 urinary reagent strip as an index test, and CSF microscopy and biochemistry as reference standards. Combur‑10 (Boehringer Mannheim) is a urinary reagent strip used to estimate ten parameters including protein, glucose, and leukocytes. We estimated diagnostic accuracy of each index test using corresponding cut‑off levels (glucose 1 + vs. CSF glucose >50 mg/dL; protein 1 + and 2 + vs. CSF protein >30 mg/dL and >100 mg/dL; leukocyte esterase positivity vs. >10 granulocytes in CSF sample). We constructed receiver operating curves (ROC) to evaluate overall performance of index tests and estimated area under the curve (AUC). Results: CSF samples of 75 patients were included in the study. All the three indicator tests (CSF cells, protein, and glucose) were normal in 17 (22.6%) samples. Of the three tests, diagnostic accuracy of protein estimation (1 + or more on reagent strip) was best for detection of CSF proteins greater than 30 mg/dL [sensitivity 98.1% (95% CI 90.1-100%); specificity 57.1% (95% CI 34-78.2%)], with AUC of 0.97. Sensitivity and specificity for 2 + on reagent strip and CSF protein > 100 mg/dL were 92.6% (95% CI 75.1-99.1) and 87.5% (95% CI 74.8-95.3), respectively, with AUC of 0.96 (95% CI 0.92-1.01). Leukocyte esterase positivity by test strip had a sensitivity of 85.2 (95% CI 66.3-95.8%) and specificity of 89.6 (95% CI 77.3-96.5%) for detection of CSF granulocytes of more than 10/mm3. Conclusion: Existing urinary reagent strips can be used to diagnose meningitis in low‑resource settings.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 52-56
Author(s):  
Helene M. Markkanen ◽  
Tuula Pekkarinen ◽  
Esa Hämäläinen ◽  
Matti J. Välimäki ◽  
Henrik Alfthan ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (24) ◽  
pp. 3019-3025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pier Paolo Piccaluga ◽  
Fabio Fuligni ◽  
Antonio De Leo ◽  
Clara Bertuzzi ◽  
Maura Rossi ◽  
...  

PurposeThe differential diagnosis among the commonest peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs; ie, PTCL not otherwise specified [NOS], angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma [AITL], and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma [ALCL]) is difficult, with the morphologic and phenotypic features largely overlapping. We performed a phase III diagnostic accuracy study to test the ability of gene expression profiles (GEPs; index test) to identify PTCL subtype.MethodsWe studied 244 PTCLs, including 158 PTCLs NOS, 63 AITLs, and 23 ALK-negative ALCLs. The GEP-based classification method was established on a support vector machine algorithm, and the reference standard was an expert pathologic diagnosis according to WHO classification.ResultsFirst, we identified molecular signatures (molecular classifier [MC]) discriminating either AITL and ALK-negative ALCL from PTCL NOS in a training set. Of note, the MC was developed in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples and validated in both FFPE and frozen tissues. Second, we found that the overall accuracy of the MC was remarkable: 98% to 77% for AITL and 98% to 93% for ALK-negative ALCL in test and validation sets of patient cases, respectively. Furthermore, we found that the MC significantly improved the prognostic stratification of patients with PTCL. Particularly, it enhanced the distinction of ALK-negative ALCL from PTCL NOS, especially from some CD30+ PTCL NOS with uncertain morphology. Finally, MC discriminated some T-follicular helper (Tfh) PTCL NOS from AITL, providing further evidence that a group of PTCLs NOS shares a Tfh derivation with but is distinct from AITL.ConclusionOur findings support the usage of an MC as additional tool in the diagnostic workup of nodal PTCL.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. e036483
Author(s):  
Sam Ebenezer Athikarisamy ◽  
Geoffrey Christopher Lam ◽  
Stuart Ross ◽  
Shripada Cuddapah Rao ◽  
Debbie Chiffings ◽  
...  

ObjectivesRetinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disease of the preterm retina with the potential to cause irreversible blindness. Timely screening and treatment of ROP are critical. Neonatal nurses trained in wide field digital retinal photography (WFDRP) for screening may provide a safe and effective strategy to reduce the burden of ophthalmologists in performing binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy (BIO). The objective of the study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of WFDRP in the diagnosis of referral warranting ROP (RWROP).DesignProspective diagnostic accuracy study.SettingA tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in Perth, Western Australia.ParticipantsPreterm infants who fulfilled the Australian ROP screening criteria (gestational age (GA) <31 weeks, birth weight (BW) <1250 g).InterventionSets of 5–6 images per eye (index test) were obtained within 24–48 hours prior to or after the BIO (reference standard), and uploaded onto a secured server. A wide field digital camera (RetCam, Natus, Pleasanton, California, USA) was used for imaging. A paediatric ophthalmologist performed the BIO. The ophthalmologists performing BIO versus reporting the images were masked to each other’s findings.Primary outcomeThe area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used as a measure of accuracy of WFDRP to diagnose RWROP.ResultsA total of 85 infants (mean BW; 973.43 g, mean GA; 29 weeks) underwent a median of two sessions of WFDRP. There were 188 episodes of screening with an average of five images per eye. WFDRP identified RWROP in 7.4% (14/188 sessions) of examinations. In one infant, BIO showed bilateral plus disease and WFDRP did not pick up the plus disease. WFDRP image interpretation had a sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 94.5% for the detection of RWROP. The ‘area under the ROC curve’ was 88% when adjusted for covariates.ConclusionsWFDRP by neonatal nurses was feasible and effective for diagnosing RWROP in our set up.Trial registration numberACTRN12616001386426.


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