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Objective: to evaluate the efficiency of the assessment of physical and sexual development, and blood pressure indicators of school-age children of the ethnic Khanties using standards developed on this cohort in comparison with the use of standards that are not adapted to them.Material and methods: the authors assessed of physical and sexual development, and blood pressure indicators in 423 ethnic Khanty children aged 7 to 17 years using standards developed on a cohort of children of the Khanty, the alien population of the north, and international standards.Results: statistically significant differences in the results of the assessment of anthropometric data, blood pressure, and sexual development were found using standards developed on different cohorts of children. The application of standards for the alien population of the north and international standards distorts the conclusion about the assessment of the health of children of ethnic Khanty and contributes to the underdiagnoses of obesity, excess body weight, and arterial hypertension, overdiagnoses of nanism, and a delay in sexual development.Conclusion: the presence of features of physical and sexual development, and blood pressure of ethnic Khanty children determines the need in the standards developed on this ethnically isolated cohort of children for individual and population assessment of their health.

Breast cancer screening is associated with harms, such as false-positives and overdiagnoses, and, thus, novel screen tests can be considered. Liquid biopsies have been proposed as a novel method for the early detection of cancer, but low cell-free DNA tumor fraction might pose a problem for the use in population screening. Using breast cancer microsimulation model MISCAN-Fadia, we estimated the outcomes of using liquid biopsies in breast cancer screening in women aged 50 to 74 in the United States. For varying combinations of test sensitivity and specificity, we quantify the impact of the use of liquid biopsies on the harms and benefits of screening, and we estimate the maximum liquid biopsy price for cost-effective implementation in breast cancer screening at a cost-effectiveness threshold of USD 50,000. We investigate under what conditions liquid biopsies could be a suitable alternative to digital mammography and compare these conditions to a CCGA substudy. Outcomes were compared to digital mammography screening, and include mortality reduction, overdiagnoses, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and the maximum price of a liquid biopsy for cost-effective implementation. When liquid biopsies are unable to detect DCIS, a large proportion of overdiagnosed cases is prevented but overall breast cancer mortality reduction and quality of life are lower, and costs are higher compared to digital mammography screening. Liquid biopsies prices should be restricted to USD 187 per liquid biopsy depending on test performance. Overall, liquid biopsies that are unable to detect ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) need to be able to detect small, early-stage tumors, with high specificity, at low costs in order to be an alternative to digital mammography. Liquid biopsies might be more suitable as an addition to digital mammography than as an alternative.

Background Studies conducted in Swedish populations have shown that men with lowest prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels at ages 44–50 years and 60 years have very low risk of future distant metastasis or death from prostate cancer. This study investigates benefits and harms of screening strategies stratified by PSA levels. Methods PSA levels and diagnosis patterns from two microsimulation models of prostate cancer progression, detection, and mortality were compared against results of the Malmö Preventive Project, which stored serum and tracked subsequent prostate cancer diagnoses for 25 years. The models predicted the harms (tests and overdiagnoses) and benefits (lives saved and life-years gained) of PSA-stratified screening strategies compared with biennial screening from age 45 years to age 69 years. Results Compared with biennial screening for ages 45–69 years, lengthening screening intervals for men with PSA less than 1.0 ng/mL at age 45 years led to 46.8–47.0% fewer tests (range between models), 0.9–2.1% fewer overdiagnoses, and 3.1–3.8% fewer lives saved. Stopping screening when PSA was less than 1.0 ng/mL at age 60 years and older led to 12.8–16.0% fewer tests, 5.0–24.0% fewer overdiagnoses, and 5.0–13.1% fewer lives saved. Differences in model results can be partially explained by differences in assumptions about the link between PSA growth and the risk of disease progression. Conclusion Relative to a biennial screening strategy, PSA-stratified screening strategies investigated in this study substantially reduced the testing burden and modestly reduced overdiagnosis while preserving most lives saved. Further research is needed to clarify the link between PSA growth and disease progression.

Successful baking requires careful measurement, the precise mixing of ingredients and an attentive eye while the mixture is in the oven. However, the environment may have an impact on the final product. Humidity, quality of ingredients, type of oven used and altitude can all mean the difference between a perfect cake and a goopy mess. Although chlamydia control may seem quite different from baking, there are some important parallels, notably the context in which control programmes are developed, implemented and evaluated. The same inputs and approaches applied in different contexts may produce drastically different results. van Bergen et al 1 describe the methods of and conclusions from addressing the question ‘Where to go to in Chlamydia control?’ for the Netherlands in this issue of Sexually Transmitted Infections . The author and colleagues1 convened a panel that met in November 2019 and discussed expert perspectives on chlamydia control. This panel considered the interpretation of available evidence on the impact and/or effectiveness of a variety of testing scenarios: asymptomatic screening including opportunistic testing of asymptomatic patients in routine healthcare settings, syndromic testing, and at-home specimen collection and/or testing. Their paper reports on a problem analysis and the consensus viewpoint that evolved from this expert meeting, which suggested that future strategies should reduce rather than expand the role of widespread testing for asymptomatic chlamydial infections, and therefore the authors conclude that they ‘do not recommend age-based screening and widespread testing for chlamydia in asymptomatic persons in the Netherlands’.1 In this thought-provoking paper, van Bergen et al 1 focus on the assessment of three points: evidence for prevalence reductions, the rate of severe long-term complications caused by chlamydia and the potential harms of overdiagnoses and overtreatment. They find that all three points argue for the need to reassess and question current practices. …

The pediatric flatfoot has long occupied a place in the medical literature, with concerns about the significance of its appearance. At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, an article in this journal provoked active debate about the pediatric flatfoot as part of development, and proposed a considered titration of presenting cases in an effort to justify treatment and appreciated the range and expected change in normal foot posture with growth. A decade later, the availability of normative pediatric foot posture data, and the prospective findings to confirm lessening flat feet with age, encourage a structured and considered approach to this frequent primary care presentation. The pragmatic concept of the “boomerang” is built on the research identifying pediatric flat feet likely to be symptomatic, thus requiring intervention, and filtering from those likely to remain asymptomatic. Differential diagnoses are advisedly considered, and gait remains the hallmark outcome. In this contemporary guide, an eight-step strategy has been developed to improve the approach to community pediatric flatfoot concerns. Furthermore, the three boomerang flat feet factors delineating symptomatic from asymptomatic flat feet, and applicable cutoff levels, are availed for practical reference and use. Given the recognized state of overdiagnosis and resulting unnecessary treatment that pervades the 21st century, it is timely for clear 20/20 vision for the presentation of pediatric flatfoot.

Simple Summary Breast cancer screening causes harms and benefits. The balance between the two varies by age. By applying microsimulation modelling, we compared several age ranges of screening in four European countries (the Netherlands, Finland, Italy and Slovenia) and evaluated the respective harm-to-benefit ratios. In all countries, adding screening between the ages 45 and 49 or 70 and 74 resulted in more life-years gained and more breast cancer deaths averted, but at the expense of increases in harms. Adapting the age range of breast cancer screening is an option to improve harm-to-benefit ratios in all four countries. The prioritization of considered harms and benefits affects the interpretation of results. Abstract The main benefit of breast cancer (BC) screening is a reduction in mortality from BC. However, screening also causes harms such as overdiagnosis and false-positive results. The balance between benefits and harms varies by age. This study aims to assess how harm-to-benefit ratios of BC screening vary by age in the Netherlands, Finland, Italy and Slovenia. Using microsimulation models, we simulated biennial screening with 100% attendance at varying ages for cohorts of women followed over a lifetime. The number of overdiagnoses, false-positive diagnoses, BC deaths averted and life-years gained (LYG) were calculated per 1000 women. We compared four strategies (50–69, 45–69, 45–74 and 50–74) by calculating four harm-to-benefit ratios, respectively. Compared to the reference strategy 50–69, screening women at 45–74 or 50–74 years would be less beneficial in any of the four countries than screening women at 45–69, which would result in relatively fewer overdiagnoses per death averted or LYG. At the same time, false-positive results per death averted would increase substantially. Adapting the age range of BC screening is an option to improve harm-to-benefit ratios in all four countries. Prioritization of considered harms and benefits affects the interpretation of results.

Otitis media (OM) or middle ear infection is one of the most common diseases in young children around the world. The diagnosis of OM is currently performed using an otoscope to detect middle ear fluid and inflammatory changes manifested in the tympanic membrane. However, conventional otoscopy cannot visualize across the tympanic membrane or sample middle ear fluid. This can lead to low diagnostic certainty and overdiagnoses of OM. To improve the diagnosis of OM, we have developed a short-wave infrared (SWIR) otoscope in combination with a protease-cleavable biosensor, 6QC-ICG, which can facilitate the detection of inflammatory proteases in the middle ear with an increase in contrast. 6QC-ICG is a fluorescently quenched probe, which is activated in the presence of cysteine cathepsin proteases that are up-regulated in inflammatory immune cells. Using a preclinical model and custom-built SWIR otomicroscope in this proof-of-concept study, we successfully demonstrated the feasibility of robustly distinguishing inflamed ears from controls (p = 0.0006). The inflamed ears showed an overall signal-to-background ratio of 2.0 with a mean fluorescence of 81 ± 17 AU, while the control ear exhibited a mean fluorescence of 41 ± 11 AU. We envision that these fluorescently quenched probes in conjunction with SWIR imaging tools have the potential to be used as an alternate/adjunct tool for objective diagnosis of OM.

Dramatic increases have been seen over recent decades in the reported incidence of thyroid cancer, but owing to new modes of screening, hundreds of thousands of cases may be overdiagnoses — diagnosis of tumors that would not, if left alone, result in symptoms or death.

Screening for melanoma has been advocated for many years because early detection and excision have been regarded as the most important measure to lower mortality from that neoplasm. In the past decade, concern has been raised by epidemiologists that screening might result in excision chiefly of “inconsequential cancer,” i.e., melanomas that would never have progressed into life-threatening tumors, a phenomenon referred to by the misleading term “overdiagnosis.” Without any firm evidence, that speculation has been embraced worldwide, and incipient melanomas have been trivialized. At the same time, efforts at early detection of melanoma have continued and have resulted in biopsy of pigmented lesions at a progressively earlier stage, such as lesions with a diameter of only 2, 3, or 4 mm. Those tiny lesions often lack sufficient criteria for clinical and histopathologic diagnosis, the result being true overdiagnoses, i.e., misdiagnoses of melanocytic nevi as melanoma. This is especially true if available criteria for histopathologic diagnosis are diminuished even further by incomplete excision of lesions. The reliability of histopathologic diagnosis is far higher in excisional biopsies of lesions that were given some more time to develop changes that make them recognizable. Biopsy of pigmented lesions with a diameter of 6 mm has been found to result in a far higher yield of melanomas. In addition to better clinical judgment, slight postponement of biopsies bears the promise of substantial improvement of the reliability of histopathologic diagnosis, and of alleviating true overdiagnoses.

Screeningstudien zum konventionellen Rontgen der Lunge und zu Sputumuntersuchungen konnten keine Reduktion der Lungenkrebsmortalitat belegen. Hingegen scheint das Screening mittels Low-Dose-Computertomographie (LDCT) Erfolg versprechender zu sein, da es bei vergleichsweise geringer Strahlenbelastung die Entdeckung von Tumorherden in fruhen Stadien ermoglicht. In zwei kleineren, randomisierten klinischen Studien zum LDCT-Screening in Europa konnte keine Reduktion der Lungenkrebsmortalitat nachgewiesen werden. In der mit Abstand grosten Studie, dem US-amerikanischen National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), wurde jedoch eine deutliche Reduktion der Lungenkrebsmortalitat um relativ 20,0 % (95 % Konfidenzintervall: 6,8–26,7 %) und der Gesamtmortalitat um relativ 6,7 % (95 % KI: 1,2–13,6 %) berichtet. Ein gravierender Nachteil des LDCT ist der NLST-Studie zufolge der niedrige positive pradiktive Wert von positiven Screeningergebnissen: Nur bei 4 von 100 positiven Testergebnissen lag tatsachlich ein Lungenkrebs vor. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden Vor- und Nachteile des LDCT-Screenings sowie offene Fragen systematisch diskutiert. Der moglichen Senkung der lungenkrebsspezifischen und der gesamten Mortalitat stehen als Nachteile falsch-positive Befunde, Uberdiagnosen und die Strahlenbelastung gegenuber: Der Anteil der Uberdiagnosen wird in der NLST-Studie je nach Auswertungsstrategie auf 11,0–18,5 % geschatzt, die Strahlenbelastung liegt mit etwa 1,5 mSv pro Scan deutlich unter dem Wert fur eine Rontgenthoraxaufnahme mit etwa 8 mSv pro Scan. Offene Fragen beziehen sich darauf, wem das Screening angeboten werden soll, in welchen Zeitabstanden gescreent werden soll und mit welchem Algorithmus durch das Screening entdeckte Knoten abgeklart werden sollen.

Populationwide mammography screening has been associated with a substantial rise in false-positive mammography findings and breast cancer overdiagnosis. However, there is a lack of current data on the associated costs in the United States. We present costs due to false-positive mammograms and breast cancer overdiagnoses among women ages 40-59, based on expenditure data from a major US health care insurance plan for 702,154 women in the years 2011-13. The average expenditures for each false-positive mammogram, invasive breast cancer, and ductal carcinoma in situ in the twelve months following diagnosis were $852, $51,837 and $12,369, respectively. This translates to a national cost of $4 billion each year. The costs associated with false-positive mammograms and breast cancer overdiagnoses appear to be much higher than previously documented. Screening has the potential to save lives. However, the economic impact of false-positive mammography results and breast cancer overdiagnoses must be considered in the debate about the appropriate populations for screening.

Background & Aims Screening colonoscopy was introduced in Germany in October 2002. We aimed to quantify its effects on prevention, early detection, and overdiagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the 10 years since its introduction. Methods We analyzed data from more than 4.4 million screening colonoscopies (conducted on individuals 55–79 years old from 2003 through 2012) available through the national screening colonoscopy registry. CRCs prevented, detected earlier than they would have been without screening, and overdiagnosed (cancers detected at screening colonoscopy that would not have become clinically manifest during the patient's lifetime) were estimated by Markov models. Model parameters included sex-specific and age-specific findings at screening colonoscopy; mortality; rates of transition from nonadvanced to advanced adenoma, advanced adenoma to preclinical cancer, or preclinical cancer to clinically manifest cancer; and protection from screening colonoscopy. Results Overall, approximately 180,000 CRCs (1/28 screening colonoscopies) were estimated to have been prevented, and more than 40,000 CRCs (1/121 screening colonoscopies) were detected earlier than they would have been without screening, compared with approximately 4500 overdiagnoses (1/1089 screening colonoscopies). Almost all CRCs prevented or detected earlier than they would have been without screening resulted from screening colonoscopies performed on individuals up to 75 years old (97% and 89%, respectively), whereas 28% of overdiagnoses occurred from screening colonoscopies of individuals older than 75 years old. Conclusions On the basis of a 10-year analysis of data from a national registry in Germany, screening colonoscopies have large potential for prevention and early detection of CRC, with low risk of overdiagnosis.

The primary modality for breast cancer screening is mammography. Recent investigations, however, have indicated that an insufficient number of life-threatening cases have been detected by mammography while mammography can often results in a large number of overdiagnoses. To make breast cancer screening more effective, potential factors that influence screening efficacy need to be elucidated. Breast density is one of limiting factors for breast cancer detection using mammography. In this article, influence of breast density on breast screening is explained. Current topics related to breast density, objective assessment of breast density using applications, revision of breast composition classification in Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System Mammography fifth edition, and legislative movement regarding breast density in the United States, are also mentioned in this review article.

The knee is one of the most commonly imaged joint in clinical practice. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is recognized as the imaging modality of choice for the assessment of chronic internal derangements of the knee joint. Accurate interpretation of MRI requires several prerequisites, including a precise knowledge of normal MRI anatomy and a good understanding of basic technical principles and imaging protocols. The radiologist should consider patients’ age and clinical findings, as well as previous medical history and symptoms, before interpreting the MR images. These prerequisites help the understanding of pathological conditions encountered in the area of interest. Normal anatomical variants are often incidental findings; knowledge and recognition of these variants are essential for an accurate analysis of MRI findings. When reporting MRI, a systematic approach of all the knee structures is recommended, and in the conclusion of the report, it is more appropriate to only describe the findings which may have a clinical significance. This chapter discusses different pitfalls encountered in MRI of the knee which may be due to insufficient knowledge of anatomical variants, technical artifacts, and pitfalls from clinical origin. We aim to prevent misinterpretations and overdiagnoses that may lead to potentially harmful and unnecessary treatment.

The author responds to criticisms that his and his coauthor's estimates of overdiagnoses with mammography screening are “based on faulty science” by reviewing the statistical analyses and comparing global data with those of Connecticut.

Efforts at early detection of cancer have resulted in a sharp increase of overdiagnoses, ie, benign lesions being misinterpreted as malignant ones. Clinical overdiagnoses usually prompt a biopsy to be performed. The number of biopsies has risen dramatically, and the average time and diligence devoted to them have decreased. Biopsy specimens are often extremely small and sometimes crushed, leading to great difficulties in the assessment of histopathologic findings. In their fear not to overlook a malignant lesion, histopathologists confronted with an equivocal lesion tend to err on the malignant side, the results being histopathologic overdiagnoses and overtreatment. Epidemiologists have tried to counter those problems by cautioning against cancer screening and by inaugurating a change in nomenclature: the term "cancer" has been reserved for lesions likely to result in death, whereas earlier stages of the same process are referred to by different names emphasizing their ostensible innocuousness, and any diagnosis of a malignant neoplasm that does not produce symptoms or kill the patient is qualified as "overdiagnosis." In contrast to those suggestions that ignore biologic entities and sacrifice the foundations of morphologic diagnosis, measures are discussed that may help to overcome the problem of overdiagnosis and overtreatment in more substantial fashion.

Significant numbers of overdiagnoses of thyroid needle biopsies as "indeterminate" create a risk of surgery for benign disease. Overdiagnoses can be reduced by appropriate criteria and a risk-adapted approach to cytodiagnosis.

For quality assurance purposes, the frequency of ‘abnormal’ cytological diagnoses of the non-systematic National Cervical Cancer Screening Programme (NCCSP) was evaluated. In 1999, an unexpected high number of Class (Cl) III cases (i.e. atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance) was reported. The cytological and histological results were reviewed in order to detect a possible cause for this threefold increase. The abnormal Papanicolaou (PAP) smears examined by conventional methods from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2002 were analysed. The smears of 682 cases diagnosed in 1999 with a Cl III category were reviewed in 2000 and correlated with the available histological diagnoses provided by the Central Department of Pathology. Of the 682 Cl III cases, 176 cases (26.1%) had no follow-up, 314 cases (46.0%) had repeat cytology and 192 cases (28.2%) an histological correlate corresponding to 90 (46.9%) benign lesions, 78 (40.6%) squamous intraepithelial lesions, two (1%) invasive cervical cancers (one squamous and one glandular). Twenty-two Cl III cases (11.5%) were histologically within normal limits. Retrospective smear review confirmed 330 Cl III diagnoses (48.3%), 127 cases (18.6%) were recategorized as Cl IIIG (i.e. atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance), 22 cases (3.2%) as Cl IIID (i.e. mild to moderate dysplasia) and six cases (0.9%) as Cl IVa (i.e. severe dysplasia and/or carcinoma in situ). A total of 197 original Cl III cases had to be reclassified in the Cl II category (28.9%), only two cases showing mild and moderate dysplasia on histology. Thus, 195 cases (28.6%) comprised cytological overdiagnoses. The Cl III category being, by definition, a delicate and often subjective diagnosis, all external influences such as pressure of litigation should be avoided to reduce cytological overdiagnoses as a result of an unnecessary ‘fear-factor’.

Cytology is not 100% accurate. Overdiagnoses and underdiagnoses occur. Changes in classification systems and new devices have not changed the reliability of the Pap smear. The majority of squamous intraepithelial lesions will remit spontaneously and less than 1% will progress to invasive cancer. HPV-DNA testing has not provided a foolproof way to triage lesions. Therefore, the management of abnormal Pap smears is dependent on the personal experience of the physician, who must consider the following questions. What is the accuracy of your cytology laboratory? Does it overdiagnose or underdiagnose? How often has an ASCUS or LSIL become HSIL or invasive cancer on histologic evaluation? Will your patients come back for follow up? Will their health insurance cover frequent follow-up Pap smears or colposcopies? Do you have the resources to follow every patient who needs it? Do you want to avoid the development of every invasive cancer that may develop during the period of follow up?

To investigate the decision-making processes for dental caries from bitewing radiographs of final-year dental students in Mexico City.Five sets of radiographs were converted to slides and projected on a screen under standardized conditions. 143 students were asked to determine separately the presence of all proximal caries, of proximal lesions to be restored in the present course of treatment, and of unreadable surfaces due to technical deficiencies. A gold standard was obtained from two expert clinicians who examined the radiographs under similar conditions.Misdiagnoses were common. Overdiagnoses became evident at the treatment planning stage where many surfaces were incorrectly planned for restoration. Subjective appraisals of presence of lesions, unreadable surfaces, and surfaces planned for restoration showed substantial variation.Students' overall assessment of lesions detected did not differ between restored and unrestored surfaces. However, when compared with the gold standard, their decision-making was found to be better on surfaces which had not been restored previously as opposed to those already restored, both in terms of identification of lesions and in terms of treatment planned for deeper lesions.

Publisher Summary This chapter gives an introduction to whole-body computed tomography (CT) screening (WBS). Dr. Harvey Eisenberg began performing WBS with an electron beam CT scanner, using a technique involving a 20-sec scanning acquisition from the neck to the pelvis to include coronary calcium scoring, lung cancer screening, bone densitometry, and an abdominal survey. WBS includes a scan of the head, neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvis. However, WBS is practiced variably in conjunction with other targeted screening examinations such as a chest, abdomen, and pelvis. A serious concern among critics of WBS is that no standards exist for equipment, techniques, personnel, interpretation, or quality for untargeted scans of the whole body. Most practitioners appear to avoid the use of intravenous contrast material because it adds risk, requires monitoring, and add substantial time and cost. However, others observe that many findings are considerably more difficult to detect or characterize without contrast material and that there is limited value to noncontrast examinations for the abdomen. Overdiagnoses represent histologically malignant lesions or other potentially serious diseases that do not progress rapidly enough to harm the patient. Such overdiagnoses, false-positive tests, and incidental findings are the primary flaws of screening because they cause anxiety, procedures, and costs that do not lead to medical benefit. However, among these categories, perhaps incidental findings have received the least attention. Incidental findings may be defined as those that are not related to symptoms or previously detected abnormal physical findings or laboratory results. They are often benign lesions that lead to no symptoms, morbidity, or mortality if ignored.

The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of a specialized pathologist on the accuracy of frozen section analysis for adnexal masses. We included women who underwent frozen section diagnosis for adnexal mass surgery. A specialized and a general pathologist read the sections. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy for the whole series, as well as for the specialized and general pathologist groups. We included 325 patients; in 103 patients (31.7%), frozen section diagnosis was performed by the specialized and in 222 (68.3%), by the general pathologist. There was a significant difference in terms of correspondence between the specialized and the general pathologist groups (P= 0.024). We registered four overdiagnoses (both performed by the general pathologist [1.8% vs 0%]) and 56 underdiagnoses of which 14 (13.6%) were made by the specialized pathologist and 46 (20.7%) by the general pathologist. In 14 cases (4.3%), diagnosis could not be made on frozen section and was postponed to final histology for definitive diagnosis (1/103 [0.9%] for the specialized pathologist and 13/222 [5.8%] for the general pathologist). Our data confirm previous reports on the accuracy of frozen section analysis of adnexal masses and show a significant positive impact of the specialized pathologist as opposed to the general pathologist.

Bei praoperativen Untersuchungen und bei der Abklarung von Schwindel wird in Kliniken intensiver untersucht als in den Leitlinien der Fachgesellschaften fur notwendig erachtet wird. Dem ging eine Studie auf den Grund.

The Debrunner kyphometer is an accepted tool for detecting and evaluating thoracic kyphosis. This prospective study was conducted to create a mathematical formula that provides, with high approximation, the roentgenographic angle of thoracic kyphosis (T4-T12) using only the kyphometer. Several clinical (kyphometer value, age, and sex) and radiographic (Cobb angle [T4-T12]) parameters from 90 consecutively screened adolescents (44 male and 46 female) were correlated using simple and multiple linear regression analyses. The reliability of measurement using the Debrunner kyphometer was high. The kyphometer value was strongly correlated with the roentgenographically measured thoracic Cobb angle (simple linear regression analysis; probability range, 0.0026 to 0.0002). There was no correlation between age or sex and thoracic kyphosis. The predicted kyphosis angle using the kyphometer and the mathematic formula was 44.66 degrees +/- 2.68 degrees, (range 27 to 62 degrees), and the real roentgenographic kyphosis angle was 47.5 degrees +/- 3.53 degrees, (range, 24 to 70 degrees). The kyphometer and formula were more reliable and accurate when kyphosis less than 50 degrees was measured. In this study, the authors constructed a mathematical formula that accurately provides the roentgenographic T4-T12 kyphosis angle in adolescents using only the Debrunner kyphometer with a deviation of less than 3 degrees. The authors recommend that all physicians engaged in kyphosis screening programs use the kyphometer combined with the recently constructed simple mathematic formula. This method will reduce the cost of school screening programs, overdiagnoses, and unnecessary exposure of adolescents to irradiation.

PURPOSE: Neuroblastoma screening during the first half-year of life is associated with a two- to three-fold overdiagnosis. Because regression processes seem to be confined to infancy, we investigated whether screening at 1 year would be associated with fewer overdiagnoses, and we investigated the characteristics of thus-detected and not-detected patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thin-layer chromatography was used for semiquantitative assessment of urine samples dried on filter paper and obtained when patients were 10 to 14 months old (sample 1) and 17 to 19 months old (sample 2). Abnormal results were reanalyzed quantitatively from the same specimen by high-performance liquid chromatography and/or gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. RESULTS: A total of 200,054 children of the German federal states Lower Saxony, Northern Rhine-Westphalia, and Bremen were screened from May 1992 to April 1995. Of 229,078 investigated samples (100%), 228,245 (99.6%) were first, 657 (0.3%) were second, and 176 (0.08%) were third urine specimens. The compliance rate was 27.8%, but it continued to increase throughout the study period and in the last year it was 43.3%. The second screening offered at 18 months was accepted by only 12.1% (24,259) of the children. Thirty children underwent clinical examination, and nine asymptomatic neuroblastoma cases were detected (stage 1, n = 4; stage 2, n = 2; stage 3, n = 2; stage 4, n = 1; detection rate, 1:22,228). The results of 21 tests were false-positive. Ten children with false-negative test results presented 8 to 35 months later with neuroblastoma (stage 1 tumor, n = 1; stage 2, n = 1; stage 3, n = 1; stage 4, n = 7; five of nine tumors were N-myc–amplified tumors). Three children were nonsecretors at the time of diagnosis. Fifty-two patients were “missed” (not screened), and 37 children developed neuroblastoma before the age of screening (early cases). During the same period, a total of 23.6 cases per million children within the screening area and 24.0 cases per million children outside the screening area were diagnosed as neuroblastoma cases (not significant [NS]). In prescreening times in the area of the later screening states, 20.7 cases per million children were found (NS). CONCLUSION: Screening at 1 year of age demonstrated a lower detection rate than earlier screening programs and did not produce a “halo effect.” The good prognostic features of early-detected cases and the poor characteristics of not-detected-but-late-presenting cases corresponded to those of the related age groups.

Atypical manifestations of multiple sclerosis (MS) can mislead the physician into misdiagnosis. The correct diagnosis of MS depends on a combination of clinical and laboratory evidence. The introduction of newer neuroimaging studies has decreased the proportion of overdiagnoses of MS. Overreliance on either clinical or laboratory (currently neuroimaging) data can lead to underdiagnosis. The physician should consider the possibility of an atypical clinical presentation of MS in the differential diagnosis of patients with disease of the central nervous system.

Introduction: The DeMeester scoring system is commonly use when interpreting a 24H pH-monitoring study with patients on unrestricted diet. This is based on analysis of the full recording without exclusion of the meals. We believe that meals should be excluded for a more accurate analysis. Aim: Assess the accuracy of diagnosing GERD using DeMeester scoring system with and without meals included. Methods: One hundred forty consecutive normal 24H pH-studies (total time pH less then 4.5) reviewed from our database. Patients were off medication and with no history of past or recent esophagea l surgery. The DeMeester score for the distal esophagus was computed, including and excluding time during meal ingestion. Tota l time pH less then four, total number of episodes and DeMeester score (DS) were analyzed. Results: Ten patients (7%) with normal DS score when meals were excluded became abnormal with meals included. Only one patient had a total percentage time pH

The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of fat-suppressed T2-weighted (FS-T2) images or short tau inversion recovery (STIR) imaging in distinguishing lipoma from lipoma-like subtype of well-differentiated liposarcoma. Spin-echo T1-weighted and STIR or fat-suppression T2-weighted sequences were performed in 60 lipomas and 32 lipoma-like well-differentiated liposarcomas, histologically proven, looking for thick septa or nodules in T1-weighted images and linear, nodular, or amorphous hyperintensities on FS-T2/STIR sequences. Fourteen lipomas (23.3%) showed thick septa and/or nodules on T1, whereas on FS-T2 or STIR sequences only seven (11.7%) displayed hyperintense nodules and/or septa. All well-differentiated liposarcomas contained these signs on FS-T2 or STIR sequences. The presence of hyperintense septa or nodules in a predominantly lipomatous tumor on FS-T2/STIR sequences helps to differentiate malignant tumors from lipomas. Employing the presence of hyperintense nodules and/or septa as criteria of malignancy specificity was 76.6% and sensitivity 100%. Overdiagnoses of well-differentiated liposarcoma can occur due to the presence of non-lipomatous areas within lipomas.

The senior author and his colleagues at the University Department of Pathology, Dundee, Scotland, have undertaken a retrospective analysis of 390 cases of borderline cancer, to determine diagnostic accuracy and to provide information on the behavior of these neoplasms. The analysis centered on histopathologic findings, diagnosis, and prognosis. Determination of diagnostic accuracy was based on correlation between diagnosis and outcome of a tumor lesion. Eighty percent of the diagnoses were considered appropriate. Understandably, some of these were made with the qualification "for practical purposes." The greatest number of underdiagnoses, overdiagnoses, and inappropriate diagnoses were made on lesions of lymph nodes, breast, and soft tissues, respectively. A small number of diagnoses remained equivocal inasmuch as the nature of some lesions remains dubious. In this analysis, diagnostic problems stemmed from lesions with "early" manifestations of cancer or with minimal deviations from the histological norm. These will always plague the pathologist. The senior