Word: tests
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...attached to a segment of the large intestine in the lower right abdomen, but often, when the diagnosis is less than clear, they err on the side of caution, recommending surgery - the alternative is to risk a burst appendix, which in fact happens frequently enough while patients wait for test results. According to past studies, somewhere between 3% and 30% of all appendectomies may be in patients who do not actually have appendicitis - conditions often mistaken for appendicitis include constipation, gastroenteritis and ovarian cysts, for example - and as many as 45% of surgeries happen too late, after the appendix...
...research by doctors at Children's Hospital Boston may help spur the development of a test for appendicitis that may someday prevent unnecessary surgeries, speed up the diagnostic process and even minimize undue medical costs. "It's very exciting," says Dr. Alex Kentsis, a pediatrician and co-author of the study published online June 23 by the Annals of Emergency Medicine. He estimates that a simple diagnostic test may be as close as three years away, and may be easy enough to administer outside of a hospital's emergency department, in individual doctor's offices or even local clinics...
...test is based on a protein excreted in the urine by patients who have an infection in the appendix. Led by Dr. Richard Bachur, chief of emergency medicine at Children's Hospital Boston, researchers discovered the hallmark protein by collecting and analyzing urine samples from 12 pediatric patients with confirmed cases of appendicitis (determined by inspection of the appendix after surgery). From an initial result involving thousands of different proteins, researchers narrowed the potential candidates by comparing the 12 samples to those from healthy children without appendicitis. "We analyzed the proteins to see which were statistically significant compared with...
...research bears out the initial findings, Kentsis foresees the development of "a dip-stick test that can be used in a rapid-care kind of way" to diagnose appendicitis. "Here you have the opportunity to come up with a very quick test," says Steen. "Diagnosis could potentially be down to minutes, and not hours...
North Korea would like to test missiles and advance its nuclear program, while smuggling arms to some potentially bad actors for extra cash. The U.S. would like North Korea to stop doing all of these things. Neither side is particularly interested in finding out what happens should the other press the issue. And thus North Korea and the U.S. find themselves in a very strange Kabuki war. Pyongyang is plainly the instigator, continuing its rash of missile and nuclear tests while apparently seeking hard currency by peddling weapons to all buyers. Like automated chess pieces, U.S. military assets have responded...