Sensitivity and Specificity of Fenyö-Lindberg and Teicher Scores in the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis in Women

Abstract

SUMMARY -Th e aim of the study was to assess diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity and specifi city) of Fenyö-Lindberg and Teicher scores for distinguishing patients that need immediate surgical treatment from the others, in a female population from an urban setting. Th e study prospectively included 130 female patients admitted to the emergency department with abdominal pain indicating acute appendicitis. Th e scores and parameters of validity were calculated and compared to defi nitive diagnosis. For Fenyö-Lindberg score of -17 or less, 84.5% sensitivity, 55.6% specifi city, 87.9% positive predictive value (PPV) and 48.4% negative predictive value (NPV) were recorded. For cut-off value greater or equal to -2, there was 59.2% sensitivity, 77.8% specifi city, 91% PPV and 33.3% NPV. Th e Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of Fenyö-Lindberg score showed that the best single cut-off value for discriminating acute appendicitis in the study population was -15. For Teicher score, values greater than -3 yielded 89.3% sensitivity and 22.2% specifi city, 81.4% PPV and 35.3% NPV. In conclusion, Fenyö-Lindberg score could be used as an additional tool to exclude appendicitis and avoid unnecessary appendectomies. Teicher score may help in recognizing patients with appendicitis. None of the two scores can indicate or decline appendectomy in all cases. Scoring systems may be useful for pointing to important clinical signs and symptoms in specifi c subpopulations.

Laparoscopic Appendectomy does not Increase the Rate of Negative Appendectomy along with a Lower Rate of Perforated Appendicitis – Results in 1899 Patients at Zagreb UHC

“…So far, very few papers have been published that compare only the type of approach with the rate of negative appendectomy. Most studies attempt to reduce the rate of negative appendectomy using more precise clinical, clinical-laboratory and clinical-laboratory-radiological (scoring) systems ( 18 , 19 ). Using modern imaging diagnostic methods, the rate of negative appendectomy has decreased but is not eliminated.…”