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Prospective evaluation of the sonographic murphy sign in suspected acute cholecystitis
Author(s) -
Ralls Philip W.,
Halls James,
Lapin Stewart A.,
Quinn Michael F.,
Morris Una L.,
Boswell William
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/jcu.1870100305
Subject(s) - medicine , acute cholecystitis , sign (mathematics) , cholecystitis , radiology , ultrasonography , prospective cohort study , general surgery , gallbladder , surgery , cholecystectomy , mathematical analysis , mathematics
The sonographic Murphy sign, the presence of maximal tenderness elicited over a sonographically localized gallbladder, has been considered useful in the evaluation of patients with suspected acute cholecystitis. We prospectively evaluated this sign in 427 consecutive patients referred for evaluation of acute cholecystitis. The overall accuracy of the sonographic Murphy sign in the 219 patients with sufficient confirmation to be included in the statistical analysis was 87.2%. Sensitivity was 63% and specificity was 93.6%. The predictive value of a positive sign was 72.5%, while the predictive value of a negative sign was 90.5%. The sonographic Murphy sign is a useful, albeit imperfect, adjunct in the assessment of patients with suspected acute cholecystitis.