The presence of protein in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is a sign of a worsening condition and thus requires early intervention to prevent adverse consequences. Accurate assessment of proteinuria in patients with pre-eclampsia will ensure prompt and timely intervention to reduce or prevent the maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality associated with pre-eclampsia. This study compar...

OBJECTIVE To determine the validity of the Uriscreen, a rapid diagnostic test based on the detection of urine catalase for the early detection of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children, compared with standard urinalysis and dipstick tests. STUDY DESIGN. Cross-sectional study. STUDY POPULATION Children 1 month to 17 years of age who presented to the emergency department of a pediatric terti...

BACKGROUND Up to half the residents of nursing homes for the elderly have asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which should not be treated with antibiotics. A complementary test to discriminate between symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI) and ABU is needed, as diagnostic uncertainty is likely to generate significant antibiotic overtreatment. Previous studies indicate that Interleukin-6 (IL-6) ...

BACKGROUND Elucidation of the relationship between age, kidney function, and absolute coronary risk would facilitate efforts to promote chronic kidney disease (CKD) as a high-risk state for future vascular events and justify current recommendations for statin treatment in CKD. STUDY DESIGN Population-based study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS 1,268,538 people with data for estimated glomerular fil...

Enteric fever is a systemic infection caused by typhoidal strains of Salmonella enterica and is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in many parts of the world, especially in resource-limited areas. Unfortunately, currently available diagnostic tests for enteric fever lack sensitivity and/or specificity. No true clinically practical gold standard for diagnosing patients with enteric f...

objective: to evaluate the capability of ascitic fluid dipstick results for ph, glucose, and protein in order to predict a low serum-ascites albumin gradient (saag) at the bedside of the patient in the emergency department (ed). methods: this prospective cross-sectional study was conducted during one year in the ed of afzalipour hospital in kerman, iran. all patients with diagnostic or therapeu...

Meningococcal meningitis outbreaks occur every year during the dry season in the "meningitis belt" of sub-Saharan Africa. Identification of the causative strain is crucial before launching mass vaccination campaigns, to assure use of the correct vaccine. Rapid agglutination (latex) tests are most commonly available in district-level laboratories at the beginning of the epidemic season; limitati...

An easy, rapid and robust dipstick assay for detection of leptospira-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies was evaluated on 403 patients admitted for hospitalization because of fever. The clinical symptoms and signs of 35 patients were consistent with leptospirosis. The final diagnosis for the remaining patients was as follows: 136 with typhoid fever, 82 with hepatitis, 74 with malaria, 48...

OBJECTIVE To determine the sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of Urine Nitrite (NIT) and Leukocyte Esterase (LE) test compared with urine culture for diagnosis of UTI. STUDY DESIGN Validation study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, from January 2013 to December 2013. METHODO...