Xie_L 2006.
| Study characteristics | |||
| Patient sampling | Prospective; consecutive series of patients | ||
| Patient characteristics and setting | 81 participants
Both children and adults
Inpatients
China Haematology department; included when fever (T > 38.5 ℃); ineffective after 4 days therapy of broad spectrum antibiotic; neutrophile granulocyte < 1.0 × 109/L Representative spectrum? Yes: all patients in the haematology department who fulfilled the inclusion criteria |
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| Index tests | Platelia Aspergillus; index test was done every 3 to 4 days; cut‐off was 1.5 ODI and 2 subsequent positive samples were needed for a positive result | ||
| Target condition and reference standard(s) | Invasive aspergillosis, as defined by the Editorial Board of the Chinese Journal of Internal Medicine Incorporation avoided? Unclear: this was not clearly reported Acceptable reference standard? Unclear: we are not sure that the Chinese criteria are exactly the same as the 'Western' criteria |
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| Flow and timing | Not reported Partial verification avoided? Yes: all patients were classified according to the reference criteria Withdrawals explained? Unclear: not reported Uninterpretable results reported? Unclear: not reported |
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| Comparative | |||
| No patients per category | 11 proven, 23 probable, 33 possible and 14 no IA | ||
| Notes | Sponsoring precluded? No financial support reported | ||
| Methodological quality | |||
| Item | Authors' judgement | Risk of bias | Applicability concerns |
| DOMAIN 1: Patient Selection | |||
| Was a consecutive or random sample of patients enrolled? | Yes | ||
| Was a case‐control design avoided? | Yes | ||
| Did the study avoid inappropriate exclusions? | Unclear | ||
| Low | Unclear | ||
| DOMAIN 2: Index Test All tests | |||
| Were the index test results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the reference standard? | Unclear | ||
| If a threshold was used, was it pre‐specified? | Yes | ||
| Low | Low | ||
| DOMAIN 3: Reference Standard | |||
| Is the reference standards likely to correctly classify the target condition? | Yes | ||
| Were the reference standard results interpreted without knowledge of the results of the index tests? | Unclear | ||
| Low | Unclear | ||
| DOMAIN 4: Flow and Timing | |||
| Was there an appropriate interval between index test and reference standard? | Unclear | ||
| Did all patients receive the same reference standard? | Yes | ||
| Were all patients included in the analysis? | Yes | ||
| Low | |||