Computer-Aided Predictions of Pseudoallergic Reactions to Plasma Substitutes: A Model Using HaemaccelR. In: Jesdinsky HJ, Trampisch HJ, editors. Prognose- und Entscheidungsfindung in der Medizin. Berlin: Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 1985. pp. 410-20. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-82651-1_37]

Perioperative uses of histamine antagonists

Histamine release and adverse pseudoallergic/allergic reactions during the perioperative period occur frequently. The incidence of such reactions is 20%-30% for all grades of severity, 1%-5% for systemic reactions, and 0.1%-0.5% for life-threatening reactions. They can be elicited by all commonly used anesthetic agents and by surgical interventions. Both the incidence and severity can be reduced by the use of combined prophylaxis with H1- + H2-receptor antagonists. The authors recommend that this prophylaxis be given to the following groups of patients: those with a history of adverse reactions or history of allergy, patients undergoing surgery with a high risk of histamine release, elderly patients, and those with poor physical status due to underlying systemic diseases. These indications have been developed by heuristic medical decision-making, including a decision tree.

Selection of variables using 'independence Bayes' in computer-aided diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal bleeding

In this paper two problems of computer-aided diagnosis with 'independence Bayes' were investigated: selection of variables and monotonicity in performance as the number of measurements is increased. Using prospective data from patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, the stepwise forward selection approach maximizing the apparent diagnostic accuracy was analysed with respect to different kinds of bias in estimation of the true diagnostic accuracy and to the stability of the number and type of variables selected. The results of this study suggest first that the selection of variables should be evaluated against the estimated true diagnostic accuracy obtained using all variables, and secondly that the results of a single selected sequence may be severely biased.