• Erkan Yildirim, Erdal Karagülle, Ismail Kirbaş, Emin Türk, Bariş Hasdoğan, Mehmet Tekşam, and Mehmet Coşkun.
• Department of Radiology, Başkent University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. drerkany@yahoo.com
• Diagn Interv Radiol. 2008 Mar 1; 14 (1): 14-8.

PurposeTo determine the correlation between clinical and multislice computed tomography (MSCT) findings of early- and late-stage acute appendicitis.Materials And MethodsThe study was conducted between June 2003 and February 2006 with 143 patients. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to Alvarado scores: group 1 (n = 18; 13%; score: 1-4), group 2 (n = 70; 49%; score: 5-7), and group 3 (n = 55; 38%; score: 8-10). Abdominal MSCT results were compared to histopathological diagnoses. Patients were then divided into 2 other groups according to pain onset (MSCT performed within the first 12 h of pain onset and MSCT performed thereafter).ResultsHistopathological findings were normal in 13 of the 143 patients (9%). The positive predictive value of MSCT did not significantly differ between the 3 Alvarado groups (92.8% in group 1, 95.1% in group 2, and 98.0% in group 3). Additionally, the positive predictive value of MSCT did not differ whether the scans were performed within the first 12 h of pain onset or thereafter (88% and 89%, respectively; P = 0.89).ConclusionMSCT should be performed even in patients in whom the clinical suspicion of appendicitis is low. MSCT is effective in patients with early-stage appendicitis.

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