Evaluation of plasma serotonin concentration in acute appendicitis.
Article
in English
| IMSEAR
| ID: sea-64643
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Due to lack of reliable biochemical/radiological markers, the diagnosis of acute appendicitis is based only on clinical features.METHODS:
We estimated plasma serotonin levels in 48 patients with acute appendicitis (histologically proven), 27 patients with abdominal pain of other etiologies, and 20 healthy controls.RESULTS:
The plasma serotonin levels were (mean +/- SD) 36.6 +/- 12.5 nmol/L, 12.5 +/- 3.6 nmol/L and 10.4 +/- 3.5 nmol/L in the three groups, respectively. The levels in patients with acute appendicitis were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than in the other groups, giving 93.8% sensitivity and 95.7% specificity to the test.CONCLUSION:
Plasma serotonin level is a reliable marker of acute appendicitis, especially in the first 48 hours.
Full text:
Available
Index:
IMSEAR (South-East Asia)
Main subject:
Appendicitis
/
Humans
/
Biomarkers
/
Serotonin
/
Abdominal Pain
/
Acute Disease
/
Predictive Value of Tests
/
Sensitivity and Specificity
/
Diagnosis, Differential
Type of study:
Controlled clinical trial
/
Diagnostic study
/
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Year:
1997
Type:
Article
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