Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37352313›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

Musculoskeletal misdiagnoses in children with brain tumors: A nationwide, multicenter case-control study.

Laura Hallundbæk, Søren Hagstrøm, Rene Mathiasen, Troels Herlin, Henrik Hasle, Kathrine Synne Weile, Jesper Amstrup, Ninna Brix

Open access · goldAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-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

0 citing papers in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Laura HallundbækDepartment of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0003-1786-8028
Søren HagstrømDepartment of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.
Rene MathiasenDepartment of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Troels HerlinDepartment of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Henrik HasleDepartment of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Kathrine Synne WeileDepartment of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0002-0609-9844
Jesper AmstrupDepartment of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.
Ninna BrixDepartment of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0003-2538-1834
Aalborg University Hospital · DKAarhus University Hospital · DKRigshospitalet · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveChildhood brain tumors belong to the cancer type with the longest diagnostic delay, the highest health care utilization prior to diagnosis, and the highest burden of long-term sequelae. We aimed to clarify whether prior musculoskeletal diagnoses in childhood brain cancer were misdiagnoses and whether it affected the diagnostic delay. STUDY

designIn this retrospective, chart-reviewed case-control study we compared 28 children with brain tumors and a prior musculoskeletal diagnosis to a sex and age-matched control group of 56 children with brain tumors and no prior musculoskeletal diagnosis. Using the Danish registries, the cases were identified from consecutive cases of childhood brain cancers in Denmark over 23 years (1996-2018).

resultsOf 931 children with brain tumors, 3% (28/931) had a prior musculoskeletal diagnosis, of which 39% (11/28) were misdiagnoses. The misdiagnoses primarily included torticollis-related diagnoses which tended to a longer time interval from first hospital contact until a specialist was involved: 35 days (IQR 6-166 days) compared to 3 days (IQR 1-48 days), p = 0.07. When comparing the 28 children with a prior musculoskeletal diagnosis with a matched control group without a prior musculoskeletal diagnosis, we found no difference in the non-musculoskeletal clinical presentation, the diagnostic time interval, or survival. Infratentorial tumor location was associated with a seven-fold risk of musculoskeletal misdiagnosis compared to supratentorial tumor location.

conclusionMusculoskeletal misdiagnoses were rare in children with brain tumors and had no significant association to the diagnostic time interval or survival. The misdiagnoses consisted primarily of torticollis- or otherwise neck-related diagnoses.

Indexed as

Brain NeoplasmsTorticollisCase-Control StudiesChildDelayed DiagnosisDiagnostic ErrorsHumansRetrospective Studies

Identifiers

PMID37352313
PMCPMC10289381
OpenAlexW4381839316

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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.