CASTLE ROCK, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Results from AspenBio Pharma’s (NASDAQ: APPY) recently completed 503-patient pilot study of AppyScore™ will be presented from the podium at the upcoming annual scientific meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) being held May 9-12, 2012 in Chicago.
The AppyScore clinical study included pediatric and adolescent patients, ages 2-20, with symptoms suspicious for acute appendicitis who were evaluated at 11 hospital sites across the country. Results for the AppyScore test showed a negative predictive value of 97% and sensitivity of 97% and the study suggests that approximately one-third of patients were referred for CT scans unnecessarily, as these patients did not have acute appendicitis. A single abdominal CT scan exposes patients to a radiation dose equivalent to 100 to 800 chest x-rays, according to a February 2010 report released by the FDA, “Initiative to Reduce Unnecessary Radiation Exposure from Medical Imaging.” Abdominal pain is the number one reason for hospital emergency department visits, and appendectomy is a major reason for emergency abdominal surgery.
