How to differentiate acute pelvic inflammatory disease from acute appendicitis ? A decision tree based on CT findings

To construct a decision tree based on CT findings to differentiate acute pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) from acute appendicitis (AA) in women with lower abdominal pain and inflammatory syndrome.

This retrospective study was approved by our institutional review board and informed consent was waived. Contrast-enhanced CT studies of 109 women with acute PID and 218 age-matched women with AA were retrospectively and independently reviewed by two radiologists to identify CT findings predictive of PID or AA. Surgical and laboratory data were used for the PID and AA reference standard. Appropriate tests were performed to compare PID and AA and a CT decision tree using the classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm was generated.

The median patient age was 28 years (interquartile range, 22-39 years). According to the decision tree, an appendiceal diameter ≥ 7 mm was the most discriminating criterion for differentiating acute PID and AA, followed by a left tubal diameter ≥ 10 mm, with a global accuracy of 98.2 % (95 % CI: 96-99.4).

Appendiceal diameter and left tubal thickening are the most discriminating CT criteria for differentiating acute PID from AA.

• Appendiceal diameter and marked left tubal thickening allow differentiating PID from AA. • PID should be considered if appendiceal diameter is < 7 mm. • Marked left tubal diameter indicates PID rather than AA when enlarged appendix. • No pathological CT findings were identified in 5 % of PID patients.