A paper in the Annals of Emergency Medicine brings the possibility of a rapid and reliable biomarker of acute appendicitis closer.
The study by Dr Kentsis and colleagues found elevated levels of a compund called leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein (LRG) in the urine of children with appendicitis. Acute appendicitis can be difficult to diagnose and the development of an accurate diagnostic tool would be very useful. The present study measured LRG levels using mass spectrometry but the hope is that a rapid "dipstick" style test could be developed.
