The use of the Alvarado score in the management of right lower quadrant abdominal pain in the adult

AIM OF THE STUDY: The Alvarado score is a validated test in clinical adult surgery practice which can be helpful in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. This study aimed to assess the reliability and the reproducibility of this score for patients presenting in the emergency room with acute right lower quadrant abdominal pain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective monocenter study included all adults who presented in the emergency room with right lower quadrant abdominal pain. The score was calculated by assessing six symptoms and two laboratory values weighted by coefficients. The diagnosis of acute appendicitis was confirmed by the histological examination of the resected appendix. Three groups of patients with high, low, and intermediate scores were defined as described in the literature. RESULTS: Of the 233 patients studied, 174 underwent surgery: three had a normal appendix on histological exam. The statistical analysis of the results showed that a score lower than 4 was significantly associated with the absence of acute appendicitis while a score higher than 6 was significantly associated with acute appendicitis which required surgical care. But a score between 4 and 6 was not discriminant. CONCLUSION: The Alvarado score is a reliable, cheap and reproducible tool for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in the emergency room; if the score is higher than 6 or lower than 4, there is no need for complementary exams. Patients with a score between 4 and 6, require serial reassessment of physical findings and score over 24 hours and/or complementary diagnostic exam such as ultrasound or CT scan

Intérêt du score clinico-biologique d Alvarado dans la prise en charge d une douleur de fosse iliaque droite

ANGERS-BU Médecine-Pharmacie (490072105) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

MBE growth and interfaces characterizations of strained HgTe/CdTe topological insulators

International audienceTopological insulator materials like HgTe exhibit unique electronic properties at their interfaces and so peculiar attention has to be paid concerning the growth optimization. Molecular beam epitaxy of tensile strained HgTe/CdTe is investigated as a function of the growth temperature. Crystal quality is checked by using high resolution X-rays diffraction. By combining several material characterization techniques such as scanning transmission electronic microscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy and X-rays reflectivity, we report sharp interface morphology with nanometer-scale Hg/Cd diffusion lengths. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved