Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32219561›Full record

ArticlePediatric surgery international2020

Salivary biomarker for acute appendicitis in children: a pilot study.

Te-Lu Yap, Jing Dan Fan, Meng Fatt Ho, Candy S C Choo, Lin Yin Ong, Yong Chen

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Article in Pediatric surgery international, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% 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

17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Diagnostic performance of calprotectin and APPY-1 test in pediatric acute appendicitis: a systematic review and a meta-analysis.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2023
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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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Te-Lu YapDepartment of Paediatric Surgery, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, 229899, Singapore. yap.te.lu@singhealth.com.sg.
Jing Dan FanDepartment of Paediatric Surgery, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, 229899, Singapore.
Meng Fatt HoClinical Trial and Research Unit, Changi General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
Candy S C ChooDepartment of Paediatric Surgery, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, 229899, Singapore.
Lin Yin OngDepartment of Paediatric Surgery, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, 229899, Singapore.
Yong ChenDepartment of Paediatric Surgery, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, 229899, Singapore.
KK Women's and Children's Hospital · SGChangi General Hospital · SGNational University of Singapore · SG

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeAssays of salivary biomarkers for diagnosis are gaining popularity in pediatric diseases due to their non-invasive nature. Our pilot project aims to evaluate the utility of salivary leucine-rich-alpha-2-glycoprotein (LRG) in the diagnosis of pediatric acute appendicitis (AA).

methodsWe prospectively recruited 34 patients, aged between 4 and 16 years, admitted with acute abdominal pain suspicious of appendicitis. The patients' demography, clinical characteristics, laboratory investigations, imaging examination results, operative findings, and discharge diagnoses were recorded. We compared the diagnostic performance of the patients' total white counts, neutrophil percentages, C-reactive protein, and saliva LRG levels. Saliva samples were obtained using the SalivaBio Children's Swab and LRG levels were quantified using a commercially available LRG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. IRB approval was obtained.

resultsSeventeen patients had a confirmed diagnosis of appendicitis on histology. Another 17 were confirmed not to have appendicitis after a minimum of 24 h of hospitalization, with further verification via telephone interview 2 weeks later. The median levels of saliva LRG were elevated in patients with AA as compared to those without (P = 0.008). At a cutoff of LRG 0.33 ng/μg, we obtained a diagnostic specificity of 100% and sensitivity of 35.3%.

conclusionOur proof-of-concept study demonstrated the diagnostic potential of saliva LRG for appendicitis in children. The distinct advantage of saliva LRG assays is that the procedure is simple, pain-free, and requires no specialized skill. Further study with a larger cohort is needed to verify our results.

Indexed as

Acute DiseaseAdolescentAppendicitisBiomarkersCase-Control StudiesChildChild, PreschoolC-Reactive ProteinEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayFemaleHumansMalePilot ProjectsSalivaTomography, X-Ray ComputedUltrasonographyBiomarkersC-Reactive ProteinAppendicitisLeucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein (LRG)PediatricSaliva biomarker

Identifiers

PMID32219561
OpenAlexW3013465713

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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.