Screening of Illegal Intracorporeal Containers ("Body Packing"): Is Abdominal Radiography Sufficiently Accurate? A Comparative Study with Low-Dose CT

Article Article scientifique Article Screening of Illegal Intracorporeal Containers ("Body Packing"): Is Abdominal Radiography Sufficiently Accurate? A Comparative Study with Low-Dose CT fre 2012 author Poletti Pierre-Alexandre Alois 34563 author Canel Laurent Alexandre 80014 author Becker Christoph 101378 author Wolff Hans 45574 author Elger Bernice Simone 29552 author Lock Eric author Sarasin François 65003 author Bonfanti Monica author Dupuis Lozeron Elise 506035 author Perneger Thomas 28462 author Platon Alexandra 554893 772-779 10.1148/radiol.12112767 22952384 0033-8419 http://radiology.rsna.org/content/early/2012/09/03/radiol.12112767.long Purpose:To evaluate the diagnostic performance of abdominal radiography in the detection of illegal intracorporeal containers (hereafter, packets), with low-dose computed tomography (CT) as the reference standard.Materials and Methods:This study was approved by the institutional ethical review board, with written informed consent. From July 2007 to July 2010, 330 people (296 men, 34 women; mean age, 32 years [range, 18-55 years]) suspected of having ingested drug packets underwent supine abdominal radiography and low-dose CT. The presence or absence of packets at abdominal radiography was reported, with low-dose CT as the reference standard. The density and number of packets (≤12 or >12) at low-dose CT were recorded and analyzed to determine whether those variables influence interpretation of results at abdominal radiography.Results:Packets were detected at low-dose CT in 53 (16%) suspects. Sensitivity of abdominal radiography for depiction of packets was 0.77 (41 of 53), and specificity was 0.96 (267 of 277). The packets appeared isoattenuated to the bowel contents at low-dose CT in 16 (30%) of the 53 suspects with positive results. Nineteen (36%) of the 53 suspects with positive low-dose CT results had fewer than 12 packets. Packets that were isoattenuated at low-dose CT and a low number of packets (≤12) were both significantly associated with false-negative results at abdominal radiography (P = .004 and P = .016, respectively).Conclusion:Abdominal radiography is mainly limited by low sensitivity when compared with low-dose CT in the screening of people suspected of carrying drug packets. Low-dose CT is an effective imaging alternative to abdominal radiography.©RSNA, 2012. Dewey 320 Dewey 613 Dewey 614.1 Dewey 616 Dewey 616.0757 Dewey 310 56 Département de médecine 221 62 Département de radiologie et informatique médicale 227 67 Institut de médecine légale 22A2 117 Research Center for Statistics S5 false 88 Epidémiologie clinique 115 240 Imagerie et radiologie interventionnelle du foie, des voies biliaires et du pancréas 316 407 Le Secret médical 676 469 Radiologie des urgences 800 17 Syncope 24 Radiology 265 3 f219540f-cf3c-4799-9a8f-477247c332b0 Article (Published version) Private 2012_Poletti_ScreeningIllegal_Radiology.pdf 1014085 application/pdf closedAccess Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de médecine Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de radiologie et informatique médicale Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de santé et médecine communautaires / Institut de médecine légale Faculté d'économie et de management / Research Center for Statistics

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Screening of Illegal Intracorporeal Containers ("Body Packing"): Is Abdominal Radiography Sufficiently Accurate? A Comparative Study with Low-Dose CT	Radiology			2012	727	0

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Canel, Laurent Alexandre