Aim To assess the diagnostic performance of lateral radiograph of the neck for supraglottitis in adults and children. Methods Electronic database searches (including PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform) were carried out through July 2014. Citations of included studies and recent narrative reviews were searched. Studies that compared ...

Cancer can be a devastating diagnosis, creating social, emotional, financial and psychological problems. Peer support programs are based on the premise that support from others who have been through a similar experience can help reduce the negative impacts of this disease. While there is strong theoretical rationale for this, empirical evidence that would guide program planning is scarce. We co...

STUDY OBJECTIVE We seek to determine the diagnostic test characteristics of noncontrast computed tomography (CT) for appendicitis in the adult emergency department (ED) population. METHODS We conducted a search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and the bibliographies of previous systematic reviews. Included studies assessed the diagnostic accuracy of noncontrast CT for acute appendici...

BACKGROUND Dementia includes a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by progressive loss of cognitive function and a decrease in the ability to perform activities of daily living. Systematic reviews of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) focus on how well the index test detects patients with the disease in terms of figures such as sensitivity and specificity. Although DTA reviews about ...

Theoretical frameworks such as the theory of planned behavior (TPB) can be applied to design and evaluate smoking interventions. The present systematic review aimed to: (i) determine characteristics TPB-based interventions their reported impact on TPB variables, (ii) level methodological quality in included studies, (iii) assess theoretical implementation. Studies were eligible for inclusion if...

PURPOSE For some disorders, such as radial tunnel syndrome (RTS), no randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials are available. To gain insight into the effectiveness of conservative and surgical interventions for treating RTS, we systematically reviewed all available observational studies on treatment of RTS. Although the validity of case series is inferior to that of controlle...

BACKGROUND The assessment of general movements (GMs), introduced by Professor Heinz Prechtl and his co-workers in the early 1990s, may offer the opportunity to identify infants with neurological deficits at a very early age. AIM The aim of this review was to systematically assess available data in order to determine the evidence of general movements in early infancy to predict the neurodevelo...

BACKGROUND Failure to recognize acute deterioration in hospitalized patients may contribute to cardiopulmonary arrest, unscheduled intensive care unit admission and increased mortality. PURPOSE In this systematic review we aimed to determine whether continuous non-invasive respiratory monitoring improves early diagnosis of patient deterioration and reduces critical incidents on hospital wards...

OBJECTIVE To determine the accuracy of MR imaging with Gd-EOB-DTPA for the detection of liver metastases. MATERIALS AND METHODS PUBMED, EMBASE, the Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched for original articles published prior to February 2012. The criteria for the inclusion of articles were as follows: reported in the English language; MR imaging with Gd-EOB-DTPA was performed ...