[CRP versus BSE in pediatrics. How good is a diagnostic test?]

In a prospective study CRP and BSE values were compared in 130 children who came to the first aid of our hospital with symptoms suspicious for an infection either viral or bacterial. Since the predictive value of both parameters dependents on the prevalence of diseases we discussed the likelihood ratio and the receiver operating characteristic as better parameters in the evaluation of a test i.e. BSE and CRP. It finally became clear that such characteristics are useful in clinical practice and therefore deserve more attention.