background: stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and long-term morbidity. the aim of the present study was to determine the ability of baseline serum c-reactive protein (crp) and white blood cell count (wbc) values in predicting the outcome of acute ischemic stroke (ais). methods: this study consisted of patients with first ais referred to poursina hospital, rasht, iran. severity of...

Prenatal screening for Down syndrome (DS) based on biomarker levels provides expectant parents with an estimated risk of a DS baby. The risk cutoff value of a prenatal screening test determines the detection and false positive rates and the selection of follow-up procedures, such as an invasive diagnostic test. Women who consider prenatal screening might face two undesirable outcomes: undetecte...

PURPOSE Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is an important prognostic marker in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, in some stages, it does not work. We performed this study to find a way in which preoperative CEA could be used as a constant prognostic marker in harmony with the TNM staging system. METHODS Preoperative CEA levels and recurrences in CRC were surveyed. The distribution of CEA levels ...

Douglas Jabs and coworkers performed a prospective study of 122 patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis (5). They collected blood and urine CMV isolates and performed sensitivity testing of the isolates. The interpretation of laboratory sensitivity testing of CMV strains is, however, problematic. CMV is known to be difficult to grow in cell culture, and indeed, only 60% of the cultures we...

OBJECTIVE Various cutoff levels of hemoglobin A(1c) (A1C) have been suggested to screen for diabetes, although more consensus about the best level, especially for different ethnicities, is required. We evaluated the usefulness of A1C levels when screening for undiagnosed diabetes and as a predictor of 6-year incident diabetes in a prospective, population-based cohort study. RESEARCH DESIGN AN...

Numerous reports have documented that serologic methods are much more sensitive than culture for the diagnosis of pertussis in adolescents and adults. However, a standardized serologic test for pertussis is not routinely available to most clinicians, and the serologic test levels or cutoff points correlated with diseases have not been determined. The goal of the present study was to examine the...