Aspartate-aminotransferase to platelet ratio index score for predicting HELLP syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzyme levels, low platelet counts)-syndrome is a rare but dramatic pregnancy-related illness. The difficult part of this syndrome is the lack of standardised diagnostic criterias and tests to be used to predict it. The aim of this study is determining the role of APRI score in the diagnosis of HELLP syndrome. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this cross sectional, retrospective study, patients with HELLP syndrome as case group and age-matched healthy pregnants at the similar pregnancy trimester as control group were included between January 12,017 and May 31, 2018. Data including sex, age, laboratory values, prognosis were recorded from the computerized system of the hospital. The p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: 40 patients with HELLP syndrome and 124 age-matched healthy pregnants included in the study. There was a statistically significant difference between control group and HELLP patients in terms of the mean urinary protein, platelet count, ALT, AST, creatinin, D dimer levels and also the mean APRI score. In the multivariate regression analysis, APRI score was found a better predictor than AST and both were in a good significant in predicting HELLP. On the ROC curve in order to distinguish the patients with HELLP from the control group for AST and APRI score, the sensitivity was found to be 71.7% and 82.6%, specificity to be 91.2% and 87.6% respectively. Maternal mortality rate of HELLP syndrome was 10%. CONCLUSION: We concluded that the APRI score was robustly predicted HELLP syndrome than AST alone in this study. Further studies are needed to support our data with prospective, multicentre, larger patient groups.

Different manifestation of a familiar diagnosis: From anuria to acute appendicitis.

The differential diagnosis of anuria in emergency department (ED) is broad. Secondary to intraabdominal mass pressure or infections, symptoms of micturation difficulties or disuria accompanying to back pain may arise with the interruption of sacral nerve stimulation. Here, we report a patient who admitted to ED with back pain and anuria and diagnosed acute appendicitis (AA) after advanced investigation despite of not to have any abdominal pain. A 36-year-old man admitted to our ED with a 6-h history of back pain and urination difficulty. 750mL of clear urine output was observed after bladder catheterization. Abdominal computerized tomography with intravenous contrast was used and revealed acute appendicitis. The patient consulted with a general surgeon and hospitalized for operation. After the operation, back pain was disappeared, and spontaneous micturition was seen. This case not only represents an uncommon manifestation of AA, but also alerts us to the importance of anatomical considerations when interpreting disease extent with imaging. In the differential diagnosis of back pain and urination difficulty, the rare possibility of AA should be taken into account. Because the presence of unusual findings, such as those associated with the urinary tract or lumbosacral pathologies, may further obscure the diagnosis and delay appropriate therapy.