Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30658580›Full record

ArticleBMC emergency medicine2019

Concomitant leukocytosis and lymphopenia predict significant pathology at CT of acute abdomen: a case-control study.

Alexandra Platon, Chloe Frund, Laura Meijers, Thomas Perneger, Elisabeth Andereggen, Minerva Becker, Alice Halfon Poletti, Olivier T Rutschmann, Pierre-Alexandre Poletti

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC emergency medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Alexandra PlatonDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
Chloe FrundDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
Laura MeijersDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
Thomas PernegerDivision of Clinical Epidemiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
Elisabeth AndereggenDepartment of Community, Primary Care and Emergency Medicine, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
Minerva BeckerDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
Alice Halfon PolettiDepartment of Community, Primary Care and Emergency Medicine, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
Olivier T RutschmannDepartment of Community, Primary Care and Emergency Medicine, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
Pierre-Alexandre PolettiDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland. pierre-alexandre.poletti@hcuge.ch.
University Hospital of Geneva · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAcute abdominal pain accounts for about 10% of emergency department visits and has progressively become the primary indication for CT scanning in most centers. The goal of our study is to identify biological or clinical variables able to predict or rule out significant pathology (conditions requiring urgent medical or surgical treatment) on abdominal CT in patients presenting to an emergency department with acute abdominal pain.

methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study performed in the emergency department of an academic center with an annual census of 60'000 patients. One hundred and-nine consecutive patients presenting with an acute non-traumatic abdominal pain, not suspected of appendicitis or renal colic, during the first semester of 2013, who underwent an abdominal CT were included. Two medical students, completing their last year of medical school, extracted the data from patients' electronic health record. Ambiguities in the formulations of clinical symptoms and signs in the patients' records were solved by consulting a board certified emergency physician. Nine clinical and biological variables were extracted: shock index, peritonism, abnormal bowel sounds, fever (> 38 °C), intensity and duration of the pain, leukocytosis (white blood cell count >11G/L), relative lymphopenia (< 15% of total leukocytes), and C-reactive Protein (CRP). These variables were compared to the CT results (reference standard) to determine their ability to predict a significant pathology.

resultsSignificant pathology was detected on CT in 71 (65%) patients. Only leukocytosis (odds ratio 3.3, p = 0.008) and relative lymphopenia (odds ratio 3.8, p = 0.002) were associated with significant pathology on CT. The joint presence of these two anomalies was strongly associated with significant pathology on CT (odds ratio 8.2, p = 0.033). Leukocytosis with relative lymphopenia had a specificity of 89% (33/37) and sensitivity of 48% (33/69) for the detection of significant pathology on CT.

conclusionThe high specificity of the association between leukocytosis and relative lymphopenia amongst the study population suggests that these parameters would be sufficient to justify an emergency CT. However, none of the parameters could be used to rule out a significant pathology.

Indexed as

Abdomen, AcuteAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansLeukocyte CountLeukocytosisLymphopeniaMaleMiddle AgedPredictive Value of TestsRetrospective StudiesTomography, X-Ray ComputedAcute abdominal painComputed tomographyEmergencyLeukocytosisRelative lymphopenia

Identifiers

PMID30658580
PMCPMC6339375
OpenAlexW2942847075

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.