Neurology India Medknow Publications on behalf of the Neurological Society of India ISSN: 0028-3886 EISSN: 1998-4022 Vol. 57, Num. 4, 2009, pp. 518-518

Neurology India, Vol. 57, No. 4, July-August, 2009, pp. 518

Correspondence

D-dimer is useful in the diagnosis of cortical venous sinus thrombosis

Younis A. M. Skaik

Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, AL Azhar University-Gaza, Palestine

Correspondence Address: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, AL Azhar University-Gaza, Palestine, y_skaik@hotmail.com

Date of Acceptance: 21-Mar-2009

Code Number: ni09155

PMID: 19770572

DOI: 10.4103/0028-3886.55576

Sir,

With great interest, I have read the paper entitled "D - dimer is useful in the diagnosis of cortical venous sinus thrombosis", in the recent issue Neurology India, by Misra et al . ^[1]

Had the authors incorporated the following steps, their study would have been more accurate from statistical and laboratory viewpoints:

1. Information regarding ethical clearance in the Materials and Methods section.
2. Quality control in parallel with all patients' samples (positive and negative controls).
3. Sensitivity and specificity and Barthel index score may be affected owing to the small sample size. The sample size should be at least 100, according to the standard statistical table.
4. To avoid any technicians' bias, blood samples should be coded and other normal samples should be mixed and coded with them. Following which, one technician should perform the test and the other should interpret the result.

References

1.	Misra U, Kalita J, Bansal V. D-dimer is useful in the diagnosis of cortical venous sinus thrombosis. Neurol India 2009;57:50-4.  Back to cited text no. 1  [PUBMED]

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