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Can levels of neuron-specific enolase be used in the diagnostic workup of possible cauda equina syndrome?
  1. Emily Nicholson,
  2. Tom Jaconelli,
  3. Steven Crane
  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, York Hospital, York, North Yorkshire, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Tom Jaconelli; tomjaconelli{at}doctors.org.uk

Abstract

A shortcut review of the literature was carried out to examine whether the measurement of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) can be used as a marker to exclude spinal cord, cauda equina or other significant spinal nerve root compression. 132 papers were found of which 4 included data on patients relevant to the clinical question, these are discussed in the paper. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of the best papers are tabulated. The clinical bottom line is that to date there is no evidence to suggest that measurement of NSE would be beneficial in clinical practice to rule out compression.

  • spinal
  • neurology
  • Diagnostic Tests
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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Footnotes

  • Handling editor Richard Body

  • Contributors The draft was written by EN, and checked and edited by TJ and SC. All authors act as guarantors.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Disclaimer Best Evidence Topic reports (BETs) summarise the evidence pertaining to particular clinical questions. They are not systematic reviews, but rather contain the best (highest level) evidence that can be practically obtained by busy practising clinicians. The search strategies used to find the best evidence are reported in detail in order to allow clinicians to update searches whenever necessary. Each BET is based on a clinical scenario and ends with a clinical bottom line which indicates, in the light of the evidence found, what the reporting clinician would do if faced with the same scenario again. This BET was first published on the BestBETs website at http://www.bestbets.org and has been reproduced with permission.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.