Objective: To compare the qualitative (QL) and quantitative (QN) levels of βhCG in cervicovaginal secretions as predictors of preterm birth. Methods: The study included 100 women. QL and QN assays were done with velocit kit and ELISA, respectively. Results: A positive QL assay had sensitivity of 78%, specificity 95%, positive predictive value (PPV) 90%, negative predictive value (NPV) 88% and odds ratio (OR) = 70.87 (95% CI = 18.50, 271.50). The likelihood ratios (LRs) for positive and negative tests were 15.6 and 0.06, respectively. Using a cutoff value of 34.5 mIU/ml, the QN assay had sensitivity of 86%, specificity 86%, PPV 78% and NPV 92%, OR = 36.90 (95% CI = 10.79, 126.15). The LRs for positive and negative tests were 6.14 and 0.16, respectively. Conclusion: The simple and cheaper QL βhCG test is a better predictor of preterm birth as compared to the QN test.
BACKGROUNDAlcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) includes a wide range of injury from reversible steatosis, steatohepatitis to irreversible cirrhosis. Alcoholic hepatitis is a very important entity, because severe alcoholic hepatitis is associated with a high short term mortality rate of 40-45%, which is unacceptable and has to be prevented. So far the severity of alcoholic hepatitis is identified by calculating 'Modified Discriminant Function' (mDF) score. This score includes only Prothrombin Time (PT) and bilirubin in calculating the severity of alcoholic hepatitis. MDF of greater than or equal to 32 is considered severe and treated with steroids and pentoxifylline. New scoring system 'Glasgow Alcoholic Hepatitis Score (GAHS) which includes age, white cell count, urea, PT and serum bilirubin level is used in identifying the patients in need of drug therapy.
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