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PubMed1982

[Diagnostic methods in chlamydial abortion in sheep].

Vast serologic, virologic, and morphologic investigations were carried out into the Chlamydial abortion in sheep. Use was made of the complement-fixation test, passive hemagglutination, chick embryos, electron microscopy, concentration, and purification. The disease was demonstrated on a number of farms with the single or combined employment of the above methods. Discussed was the problem of the diagnostic value of the single and twofold titrations of serum samples from sheep that had miscarried. Prerequisites were developed for the modern use and improvement of the serodiagnostics through the application of more sensitive serologic reactions on the base of purified and concentrated Chlamydial antigens. An important condition to confirm and accelerate the isolation of the strains was said to be the employment of electron microscopy both as a prompt and precise method for the early morphologic identification of the Chlamydial isolates and as a precise control on the serial culturing of the strains. Perfected was the morphologic diagnosis of the Chlamydial abortion in sheep through introducing for the first time of direct electron microscopy of negatively contrasting suspensions and ultrathin cross sections of placentae and viscera of aborted fetuses. The method was shown to be precise, demonstrative, and highly effective. It was employed successfully in sheep with mixed infections--Chlamydia and Salmonella, Chlamydia and Listeria, etc.

Abortion, Veterinary↗
PubMed2003

Rapid and quantitative detection of human septin family Bradeion as a practical diagnostic method of colorectal and urologic cancers.

BACKGROUND: Malignant tumor progression is a complex and multi-gene event which can not be easily detected or predicted. The detection of malignant cells using marker genes is hampered by the fact that these markers are only expressed by certain malignancies or lack sensitivity and/or specificity. We have reported a human septin family gene Bradeion, which shows strong cancer-specific expression in colorectal and urologic cancers as a result of carcinogenesis. MATERIAL/METHODS: Diagnostic efficacy and validity of Bradeion gene expression were tested by two independent systems, one is a protein detection method using monoclonal antibody based immuno-chromatographic membrane strip tests (a nitrocellulose test strip assay), and another is a gene expression detection method, quantitative RT-PCR. The technology has been established using Bradeion fusion proteins, in vitro cultivated human cancer cell lines, and also patients' test samples with controls. RESULTS: Bradeion test strip by combination with two monoclonal antibodies are valid for the detection of 1 ng/ml Bradeion, and successfully applied for patient urine samples with no false-positive results. Positive detection rates were over 70% of the patient urine samples so far tested (prostate cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and bladder cancer) in 15 to 30 minutes. Quantitative RT-PCR resulted in significantly high copy numbers of 0.4-3.0-3.0 x 10(5) per microg total RNA in patients' tissue samples, whereas those from normal tissue or other cancers found negative. CONCLUSIONS: The present study introduces the practical diagnostic methods using a disease-specific molecular marker, which provides safe, economical, and rapid clinical screening of cancer.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

From plasticity to complexity: a new diagnostic method for psychiatry.

There is growing dissatisfaction regarding the available diagnostic systems for psychiatric disorders (DSM, ICD). Psychiatrists acknowledge that though mental disease reflects brain disorders, the descriptive and symptom based nature of psychiatric diagnosis bears no relation to brain functions. According to Helmut's article published in the October 2003 issue of Science, in the coming decade researchers and psychiatrists will be called upon to propose a basis for the psychiatric diagnostic system of the future. I propose a new etiology-oriented diagnostic system for psychiatry by integrating two recently emerging bodies of knowledge, one regarding plasticity and the other involving complex systems. Plasticity refers to all brain processes involved in dynamic alterations within communicating neuronal ensembles or networks, in the brain. Complexity refers to certain formulations from system theories relevant to brain dynamics and plasticity. It is proposed to divide plasticity processes into three types based on time domains: (1) "developmental plasticity", (2) "tuning plasticity" and (3) "fast stabilizing plasticity". Each type of plasticity is related to different complexity models achieved by the brain, developmental plasticity is life-long brain organization, it is related to state-space configurations molded into brain representations internalized via processes such as Hebbian learning. Tuning plasticity is related to "matching complexity" a measure of adaptability between internal configurations in the brain-system and externally originating event stimuli. Fast stabilizing plasticity is related to "neural complexity" a measure of neural network integration in the brain. Neural complexity meets the mental requirement to extract important features from different sensory inputs and to simultaneously generate coherent perceptual and cognitive states, thus balancing specialized segregated brain processes with coherent globally integrated whole brain activity. Mental disorders can be reconceptualized as disorders of plasticity resulting in disturbances of state-space brain configurations, matching and neural complexities. Personality disorders result from altered internal representations of the psychosocial environment. Depression and anxiety have been recently linked to alterations of adaptive neuronal plasticity thus reconceptualized as disorders of matching complexity. Finally, psychoses, including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, are reconceptualized as disturbances of neural complexity resulting in altered fast stabilizing plasticity. The new diagnostic system generates testable predictions regarding diagnosis and treatments of mental disorders which may be the future of psychiatry.

Cognition↗
PubMed1999

PCR detection and identification of Leishmania parasites in clinical specimens in Ecuador: a comparison with classical diagnostic methods.

A simplified polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay was used for detection and typing of Leishmania parasites in clinical specimens from patients suspected of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Using cultures as the reference standard, our PCR detection method was more sensitive (92%) than classical diagnostic techniques, including microscopy (42% sensitivity), histologic staining (33%), and IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent (20%). The PCR assay was also 100% specific. Parasites in both lesion biopsies and isolates cultured from lesion aspirates were identified as Leishmania braziliensis by PCR. In this study, we have demonstrated the suitability of simplified PCR assays for the simultaneous diagnosis and typing of parasites causing cutaneous leishmaniasis in a developing country where leishmaniasis is endemic.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Current research in diagnostic methods for assessing periodontal disease and its future impact.

A diagnostic test should be useful, ideally leading to a choice of treatment(s) that would confer benefits upon the patient. The many uses of diagnostic tests are listed in Table 2, but it should be recognized that no single test can be relied on exclusively. Combinations of various tests, especially those which detect infections and those which detect inflammation, would provide useful information for diagnosing and managing the patient's treatment. Certainly, any test or procedure can be considered useful if it facilitates the successful treatment of a patient's periodontal condition without a disproportionate increase in the cost to the patient or in his or her discomfort. By these criteria, many of the tests described in this paper are useful. The entry of these tests into clinical practice seems to be only a matter of time; their true usefulness is for the clinician to determine.

Clinical Enzyme Tests↗
PubMed1993

Criteria for examiner-independent nocturnal penile tumescence and rigidity monitoring (NPTR): correlations to invasive diagnostic methods.

78 patients (pts.) with erectile dysfunction (ED) underwent conventional diagnostic evaluation including NPTR monitoring with the Rigiscan, intracavernous drug testing, dynamic cavernosometry, doppler evaluation, pharmaco-angiography and neurologic tests. Only erections of the best rigidity recorded over three nights served for classification into three classes of rigidity. Patients with neurogenic impotence showed significantly poorer and fewer erectile events per hour than vasculogenic impotent men. Patients with arteriogenic ED had better erections than patients with venogenic or mixed arterio-venogenic ED. Severity of organic ED during conventional diagnostic work-up correlated to loss of rigidity during NPTR recordings, but no differential diagnosis between arteriogenic, venogenic or neurogenic impotence could be made with NPTR data alone. The presented criteria for NPTR evaluation permit a time-saving, examiner-independent analysis.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Sonography as the basic diagnostic method in cholelithiasis].

The author analyzes a group of 200 patients who all were indicated for operation of the gallbladder, based on ultrasonic and radiological preoperative diagnostic examinations. He draws attention to the great diagnostic accuracy of sonography, which was 96.5% in his group. Radiological methods are of equal accuracy but have a number of disadvantages. The diagnostic accuracy is enhanced by mutual combination of the two methods in controversial cases. The author concludes from his work that sonography ought to be the primary examination when disease of the gallbladder is suspected. Classical radiological methods should be a supplementary method which increases the diagnostic accuracy of biliary disease and thus reduces to a minimum incorrectly indicated surgical revisions.

Cholelithiasis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnostic methods of primary tuberculous pleural effusion in a region with high prevalence of tuberculosis. A study in Mexican population.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: 1) To determine the age distribution of the patients with pleural tuberculosis in a region with high prevalence of tuberculosis; and 2) to evaluate the efficiency of the methods used in its diagnosis. SETTING: The National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City, a tertiary reference center for pulmonary diseases. DESIGN: A retrospective study. PATIENTS: 452 consecutive inpatients with diagnosis of pleural effusion from January 1991 to September 1996 were reviewed: 133 patients had a diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion of primary origin without parenchymal abnormalities by chest roetgenogram. The others were excluded because of reactivated tuberculosis or non-tuberculous effusion. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The patients had a mean age of 42 +/- 17 years (98 male, 35 female). Pleural granulomas in the morphological study were found in 87% whereas the baciloscopy and the culture of the fluid were positive in only 8% and 19% respectively. The determination of adenosine deaminase (ADA) gave a diagnostic yield of 84%. CONCLUSIONS: 1) Primary tuberculosis pleural effusion, reported in the English literature, was also present in our adults; 2) the pleural biopsy continued to be the most effective method in the diagnosis of the pathology; and 3) the determination of ADA in an area with high prevalence of the disease was a reliable and unexpensive diagnostic method.

Adenosine Deaminase↗
PubMed1994

[Validity of diagnostic methods in detection of congenital hip luxation in primary care].

OBJECTIVE: To find the validity of the clinical and radiological methods used within Primary Care in the early diagnosis of Congenital Hip Luxation (CHL). DESIGN: A prospective observation study. SETTING: Zaidín-Sur Basic Health Area (HA), Granada. An urban Health Centre. PATIENTS: All new-born and nursing babies born in our HA between October 1991 and March 1993 (N = 352), followed and studied over an average period of 22.4 months (SD = 5.6) (Range, 12 to 30 months). RESULTS: The prevalence of clinically and/or radiologically-based suspected CHL was 19% (Cl 95%; 12.7-25.3%) and the prevalence of confirmed CHL was 4.2% (Cl 95%; 1.96-6.44%). Ortolani-Barlow sensitivity (O-B) was 46.7%, specificity 85.2%; positive predictive value 12.3%, negative predictive value 97.6%, false positives 14.8% and false negatives 53.3%. When positive O-B and/or other positive clinical signs were taken into consideration, sensitivity rose to 73.3% and false negatives went down to 26.7%. If we had not performed radiologies systematically on all the nursing children, we would have missed CHL diagnosis in 1.14% of our basic HA's population-group. CONCLUSION: We question the clinical diagnosis of CHL due to its low sensitivity and an excessive number of false negatives. We recommended systematic testing by means of a diagnostic image method, which could be X-Rays at 3 to 5 months.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1997

[Modern diagnostic methods for thyroid gland diseases].

The paper overviews the role of diagnostic procedures in evaluating patient with thyroid gland disease. It focuses on the diagnostics of functional disturbances and on the modern approach to the nodular goitre. The role of supersensitive, immunoenzymatic assay of TSH (sTSH) in the diagnostics of functional disturbances in underlined, particularly in subclinical course of thyroid gland diseases, or in diagnostically difficult cases. The complimentary role of tests' triangle-ultrasound, scintigraphy and fine needle biopsy in the evaluation of focal changes of the thyroid (nodular goitre) is discussed and the diagnostic algorithm of patient's qualification to surgery is proposed.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1990

[Cytologic assessment of the nasal smear. A valuable diagnostic method in routine ENT practice].

The cytological evaluation of a nasal smear is described as a helpful but almost forgotten method in daily rhinological practice, especially for the differentiation of rhinitis. With the help of pre-stained, ready-to-use slides it is a simple method available within minutes without any laboratory. The diagnostic significance of cells and crystals found in nasal smears is explained.

Basophils↗
PubMed1984

[Thoracoscopy with pleural brushing. A new diagnostic method for pleural diseases].

Pleural brushing can be performed under thoracoscopic examination. The combined use of all three methods of diagnosis (macroscopy, biopsy, cytology) achieved optimal diagnostic results. From September 1980 to October 1981 we have performed 150 thoracoscopies for pleural effusions, while the results of conventional pleural cytology and biopsy were negative. In 108 cases pleural brushing and biopsy were both performed. The diagnosis was in 37 cases non malignant disease states associated with effusions and in 71 cases tumoural effusions. Among the 37 cases of non malignant diseases states associated with effusions were 6 mechanical effusions, 27 inflammatory processes, 4 infectious processes. Among the 71 cases of tumoural effusions were 3 benign pleural lipomas, 50 metastatic carcinomas, 18 carcinomatous mesotheliomas. We studied the diagnostic accuracy of pleural brushing: in non malignant diseases pleural brushing show the non tumoural features of the process, in metastatic tumours biopsy was positive in 80% of the cases; pleural brushing in 78% of cases; taken together they allowed the diagnosis in 86% of the cases, in carcinomatous mesotheliomas biopsy was positive in 82.3%, pleural brushing in 78%; taken together they allowed the diagnosis in 89% of the cases. Pleural brushing allows a rapid cytological diagnosis, enhances the histological results and may be used to get cellular material in areas dangerous to biopsy.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1996

Bladder cancer. Current diagnostic methods and treatment options.

The incidence of bladder cancer has grown over the years, presumably in part because of increasing exposure to carcinogenic agents in modern-day life. Drs Badalament and Schervish outline the latest diagnostic and staging methods for the disease and summarize treatment options for superficial, invasive, and metastatic cancers, including discussion of various methods for urinary diversion following cystectomy.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

[Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography: sensitive and specific diagnostic method for suspected choledolithiasis].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of magnetic resonance pancreaticography (MRCP) in the diagnostic process of common bile duct stones. DESIGN: Retrospective. METHOD: All 27 MRCPs performed in the period December 1997-December 1998 in the Deventer Hospital, the Netherlands, were evaluated using chart examination. The group comprised 11 males and 16 females with an average age of 57 years (SD 3.2) with anamnestic or biochemical cholestasis. If at MRCP stones were diagnosed, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP) was performed. If MRCP was without abnormalities, no further diagnostic procedures were performed. The findings at MRCP were compared with those at ERCP and with the clinical course. The MRCP examinations were performed on a 1.5 Tesla MR unit. RESULTS: In 16 patients MRCP was performed before laparoscopic cholecystectomy and in 5 there after. In 5 MRCP was performed to rule out a biliary cause of acute pancreatitis and in 1 patient because of an elevated alkaline phophatase after laparotomy for an abdominal stab injury. There was one false-positive MRCP result and no false-negative ones. Accordingly, the sensitivity of MRCP for choledocholithiasis was 100% and the specificity 95%.

Cholangiography↗