Search results for "Diagnostic techniques"
showing 10 items of 122 documents
Diagnostic accuracy and potential clinical value of the LightCycler SeptiFast assay in the management of bloodstream infections occurring in neutrope…
2011
Summary Objectives The objectives of this study were to compare the performance of the LightCycler SeptiFast Test MGRADE and conventional blood culture in the etiological diagnosis of febrile episodes occurring in neutropenic and critically ill patients (in the intensive care unit; ICU), and to assess the potential clinical value of the SeptiFast test in patient management. Methods A total of 86 febrile episodes occurring in 33 neutropenic patients and 53 ICU patients were analyzed. Blood samples for blood culture and SeptiFast testing were obtained at the onset of fever, before the implementation of empirical antimicrobial therapy. Results The overall microorganism-to-isolate agreement bet…
Simulated prototype of posterior chamber phakic intraocular lens for presbyopia correction.
2014
Purpose To evaluate the visual impact of adding different spherical aberration values to an Implantable Collamer Lens phakic intraocular lens (pIOL) to increase the depth of focus using an adaptive optics visual simulator. Setting University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. Design Experimental study. Methods Wavefront aberrations in −3.00 D and −6.00 diopter (D) pIOLs were measured in vitro. Afterward, different simulated pIOL experimental prototypes were created along with variances in the spherical aberration. An adaptive optics visual simulator was used to simulate vision after the implantation of the different pIOL prototypes from their wavefront aberrations. The corrected distance visual …
Treatment of tumors of the pancreatic head with suspected but unproved malignancy: is a nihilistic approach justified?
1999
The aim of the present prospective observational study was to evaluate the accuracy of preoperative imaging studies and the outcome of patients after pancreaticoduodenectomy for suspected but unproved malignancy. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed in 186 patients with a suspected but histologically unproved malignancy of the pancreatic head: 86 with a ductal pancreatic carcinoma, 56 with a periampullary tumor, 18 with a cystadenocarcinoma, 13 with a rare malignant tumor or a metastasis, and 13 with a benign tumor. An accurate differentiation between a ductal pancreatic carcinoma and a nonductal tumor or a benign tumor was neither possible with tumor marker CA 19-9 nor with diagnostic ima…
Performance of a Highly Sensitive Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Real-Time PCR Assay for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in a Low-Prevalence …
2018
ABSTRACT The potential impact of routine real-time PCR testing of respiratory specimens from patients with presumptive tuberculosis in terms of diagnostic accuracy and time to tuberculosis treatment inception in low-prevalence settings remains largely unexplored. We conducted a prospective intervention cohort study. Respiratory specimens from 1,020 patients were examined by acid-fast bacillus smear microscopy, tested by a real-time Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex PCR assay (Abbott RealTi me MTB PCR), and cultured in mycobacterial media. Seventeen patients tested positive by PCR (5 were acid-fast bacillus smear positive and 12 acid-fast bacillus smear negative), and Mycobacterium tubercul…
Corneal and Refractive Astigmatism in Adults: A Power Vectors Analysis
2009
Purpose. In this article, we examine the relationship between corneal and refractive astigmatism (including with the rule, against-the-rule, and oblique astigmatism) in an adult population using power vectors. Methods. Refractive and keratometric measures of astigmatism were conducted on right eyes of 105 white subjects aged 18 to 59 years. We performed a linear regression of refractive astigmatic error on corneal astigmatism, using the J0 and J45 components of the astigmatism. Results. We obtained a statistically significant regression relationship between the corneal (C) and refractive (R) astigmatism for both J0 and J45 components, namely, RJ0 = 1.07 × CJ0 − 0.28; and RJ45 = 1.46 × CJ45 …
Distribution of Anterior Chamber Angle Width and Correlation With Age, Refraction, and Anterior Chamber Depth—The Gutenberg Health Study
2016
PURPOSE Scheimpflug imaging allows quantitative analysis of the width of the anterior chamber angle. We report the population-based distribution of the anterior chamber angle width using this noncontact imaging technique and investigate associated factors. METHODS A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out in Germany. A comprehensive ophthalmologic examination including refraction, biometry, and Scheimpflug imaging was performed. Automated measurement of the anterior chamber angle was performed in each anterior chamber quadrant. Exclusion criteria were previous ocular surgery or inadequate image quality. Association analyses were carried out to determine independently associat…
Intrasubject repeatability of corneal power, thickness, and wavefront aberrations with a new version of a dual rotating Scheimpflug–Placido system
2014
Purpose To determine the intrasubject repeatability of a recently introduced dual-camera rotating Scheimpflug–Placido imaging system (Galilei G4) in determining corneal thickness, power, and wavefront aberrations in young healthy subjects. Setting University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. Design Prospective evaluation of diagnostic technology. Methods The study comprised right eyes of 25 subjects aged 20 to 40 years with a spherical equivalent ranging from −4.25 to +1.00 diopters. The central corneal thickness, thinnest point value and location, anterior and posterior surface curvatures, total corneal power, and corneal wavefront aberrations were measured for distance vision using the dual S…
Objective measurement of intraocular forward light scatter using Hartmann-Shack spot patterns from clinical aberrometers. Model-eye and human-eye stu…
2007
Purpose To apply software-based image-analysis tools to objectively determine intraocular scatter determined from clinically derived Hartmann-Shack patterns. Setting Aston Academy of Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, and Department of Optics, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. Methods Purpose-designed image-analysis software was used to quantify scatter from centroid patterns obtained using a clinical Hartmann-Shack analyzer (WASCA, Zeiss/Meditec). Three scatter values, as the maximum standard deviation within a lenslet for all lenslets in the pattern, were obtained in 6 model eyes and 10 human eyes. In the model-eye sample, patterns were obtained in 4 sessi…
Quantitative sensory testing in the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS): Somatosensory abnormalities in 1236 patients with different n…
2009
Neuropathic pain is accompanied by both positive and negative sensory signs. To explore the spectrum of sensory abnormalities, 1236 patients with a clinical diagnosis of neuropathic pain were assessed by quantitative sensory testing (QST) following the protocol of DFNS (German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain), using both thermal and mechanical nociceptive as well as non-nociceptive stimuli. Data distributions showed a systematic shift to hyperalgesia for nociceptive, and to hypoesthesia for non-nociceptive parameters. Across all parameters, 92% of the patients presented at least one abnormality. Thermosensory or mechanical hypoesthesia (up to 41%) was more frequent than hypoalgesia (up…
Quantitative sensory testing in the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS): Standardized protocol and reference values
2006
The nationwide multicenter trials of the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS) aim to characterize the somatosensory phenotype of patients with neuropathic pain. For this purpose, we have implemented a standardized quantitative sensory testing (QST) protocol giving a complete profile for one region within 30 min. To judge plus or minus signs in patients we have now established age- and gender-matched absolute and relative QST reference values from 180 healthy subjects, assessed bilaterally over face, hand and foot. We determined thermal detection and pain thresholds including a test for paradoxical heat sensations, mechanical detection thresholds to von Frey filaments and a 64 …