CT of acute appendicitis: can diagnostic accuracy serve as a practical performance metric for readers specialized in abdominal imaging?

Purpose: To investigate diagnostic accuracy for acute appendicitis at computed tomography (CT) as a performance metric for radiologists specialized in abdominal imaging.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively identified six attending abdominal imagers who each independently interpreted over 100 CT studies for suspected acute appendicitis.

Results: The mean number of studies per reader was 311 (range, 129-386).

The prevalence and patterns of intraluminal air in acute appendicitis at CT.

The purpose of this study is to investigate if the presence and distribution of intraluminal air in the appendix contributes to the computed tomography (CT) diagnosis of appendicitis. We identified 100 consecutive patients (57 men and 43 women; mean age, 38) with CT prior to appendectomy for acute appendicitis over a 5-year period and a control group of 100 consecutive patients (29 men and 71 women; mean age, 39) who underwent CT for acute abdominal pain without appendicitis. Patients were scanned using multidetector row CT scanners at 1.

The negative appendectomy rate: who benefits from preoperative CT?

Objective: The purpose of this article is to determine the negative appendectomy rates of patients who did and did not undergo preoperative CT and to determine, more specifically, whether men benefit from preoperative CT.

Materials And Methods: We identified 512 patients who had a nonincidental appendectomy between July 1, 2002, and June 30, 2007. Pathology records were compared with a radiology records search to determine which patients underwent preoperative CT.

Acute appendicitis: clinical outcome in patients with an initial false-positive CT diagnosis.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical outcome in patients with a diagnosis of appendicitis at computed tomography (CT) in whom treatment is deemed unnecessary after clinical evaluation.

Materials And Methods: After institutional review board approval, 2283 patients (856 men, 1427 women; mean age, 46 years; age range, 18-99 years) who underwent CT because they were suspected of having appendicitis between 2002 and 2007 were retrospectively identified. CT reports were reviewed, and the likelihood of appendicitis was assigned a score on a five-point scale: score 1, definitely absent; score 2, nonvisualized appendix with no secondary signs of inflammation; score 3, equivocal; score 4, probable; and score 5, definitely present.

Supratentorial abnormalities in the Chiari II malformation, II: tectal morphologic changes.

Objective: The sonographic diagnosis of fetal myelomeningocele has improved mainly because the diagnostic focus has shifted from observation of spinal manifestations to observation of cranial abnormalities. Intracranial diagnostic criteria rely on abnormalities in the posterior fossa. We describe abnormalities in tectal morphologic characteristics that, although well described on magnetic resonance imaging, have received little attention in the sonographic literature.

Sonography of the scrotum: self-assessment module.

Sonography is the primary technique for the imaging evaluation of diseases of the scrotum. Imaging features of disease should be correlated with clinical features to guide management. The educational objectives of this self-assessment module are for the participant to exercise, self-assess, and improve his or her understanding of clinical and sonographic features of diseases of the scrotum.

Sonography of the scrotum: case-based review.

Objective: We discuss five scenarios in which sonography is useful for diagnosing scrotal abnormalities, including painful scrotal disorders, an incidental disorder, and scrotal masses. Practice questions are included for your review.

Conclusion: Sonography is the primary diagnostic tool for diagnosing disorders in the scrotum.