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CT and appendicitis: evaluation of correlation between CT diagnosis and pathological diagnosis

J B Andre1, V A Sebastian, R M Ruchman

  • 1Department of Radiology, Monmouth Medical Center, 300 Second Avenue, Long Branch, NJ 07740, USA. jalala@gmail.com

Postgraduate Medical Journal
|July 23, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Contrast-enhanced CT accurately predicts appendicitis presence. While CT size estimates of inflamed appendixes show moderate correlation with pathological findings, it demonstrates strong diagnostic capability.

Area of Science:

  • Radiology
  • Pathology
  • Surgical Sciences

Background:

  • Accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis is crucial for timely surgical intervention.
  • Appendiceal size on imaging can be an indicator of inflammation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the correlation between appendiceal diameter measured by contrast-enhanced CT and its size on gross pathological examination.
  • To evaluate CT's accuracy in predicting appendicitis and estimating inflamed appendix size.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of 56 pediatric cases meeting inclusion criteria from a database of 301 patients.
  • Comparison of appendiceal dimensions from contrast-enhanced CT scans with surgical pathology reports.

Main Results:

  • Mean CT appendiceal size was 10.3 mm; mean pathological size was 10.4 mm.
  • Acute appendicitis confirmed in 54/56 cases (96.4% positive predictive value).
  • Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.5443 (95% CI 0.329 to 0.706) for size estimation.

Conclusions:

  • Contrast-enhanced CT demonstrates strong ability to predict the presence of acute appendicitis.
  • CT provides a moderate correlation for estimating the size of inflamed appendixes compared to pathological specimens.
Abstract

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