Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31881882›Full record

ArticleBMC pulmonary medicine2019

A comparative analysis of the diagnostic performances of four clinical probability models for acute pulmonary embolism in a sub-Saharan African population: a cross-sectional study.

Agnès Esiéné, Joel Noutakdie Tochie, Junette Arlette Mbengono Metogo, Paul Owono Etoundi, Jacqueline Ze Minkande

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative StudyMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 30% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Agnès EsiénéDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Joel Noutakdie TochieDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon. joeltochie@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8338-2467
Junette Arlette Mbengono MetogoDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Paul Owono EtoundiDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Jacqueline Ze MinkandeDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Université de Yaoundé I · CM

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is one of the most challenging in emergency settings where prompt and accurate decisions need to be taken for life-saving purposes. Here, the assessment of the clinical probability of PE is a paramount step in its diagnosis. Although clinical probability models (CPM) for PE are routinely used in emergency departments (EDs) of low-resource settings, few studies have cited their diagnostic performances in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We aimed to comparatively assess the accuracy of four CPM in the diagnosis of acute PE in sub-Saharan Africans.

methodsWe carried out a cross-sectional study to compare the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and accuracy of four CPM namely; the Wells, simplified Wells, revised Geneva and the simplified revised Geneva (SRG) Scores to computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in all adults patients with suspected PE admitted to the EDs of the Gynaeco-obstetric and Paediatric Hospital of Yaoundé and the Yaoundé Central Hospital in Cameroon between January 1, 2017 and April 30, 2018.

resultsIn total, we enrolled 30 patients with clinical suspicion of acute PE. PE was confirmed on CTPA in 16 (53.3%) cases. Their mean age was 53.7 ± 15.5 years and 36.7% were males. All four scores had a diagnostic performance superior to 50% in all criteria assessed. The simplified Wells score had the highest sensitivity (62.5%) followed by the Wells score (56.3%). The SRG score had the highest specificity (71.4%). The score with highest PPV was the SRG score (66.7%) and that with the highest NPV was the Wells score (56.3%). Overall the models with the highest accuracies were the Wells and SRG scores (60% for each).

conclusionAll CPM had a suboptimal diagnostic performance, perhaps highlighting the need of a more optimal CPM for acute PE in SSA. However, the Wells and the SRG scores appeared to be most accurate than the other two scores in the ED. Hence, both or either of them may be used in first intention to predict PE and guide which ED patients should undergo further investigations in an emergency SSA setting.

Indexed as

Models, StatisticalAcute DiseaseAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCameroonCross-Sectional StudiesEmergency Service, HospitalFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPredictive Value of TestsProspective StudiesPulmonary EmbolismReproducibility of ResultsEmergency depatmentPulmonary embolismRevised Geneva scoreSimplified revised Geneva scoreSimplified wells scoreSub-Saharan AfricanWells score

Identifiers

PMID31881882
PMCPMC6935247
OpenAlexW2997599684

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.