Diagnostic Criteria and Investigations
The cause of CVS has not been determined; there are no diagnostic tests for CVS. Several other medical conditions can mimic the same symptoms, and it is important to rule these out. If all other possible causes have been excluded a diagnosis of CVS may be appropriate.
There are established criteria to aid diagnosis of CVS; essential criteria are:
- A history of three or more periods of intense, acute nausea, and unremitting vomiting and sometimes pain lasting hours to days and even into months are reported.
- Intervening symptom-free intervals, lasting weeks to months
- Exclusion of metabolic, gastrointestinal or central nervous system structural or biochemical disease e.g. individuals with specific physical causes (e.g. intestinal malrotation)
Once formal investigations to rule out gastrointestinal or other etiologies have been conducted, these need not be repeated in future episodes.
The prevalence of the condition is not clear. Two published studies on childhood CVS suggest nearly 2% of school age children may have CVS. However, diagnosis is problematic and as knowledge of CVS has increased in recent years more and more cases are emerging. This suggests a tendency to underdiagnosis, and thus the true figure may be higher.
Read more about this topic: Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome
Famous quotes containing the word criteria:
“The Hacker Ethic: Access to computers—and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works—should be unlimited and total.
Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!
All information should be free.
Mistrust authority—promote decentralization.
Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.
You can create art and beauty on a computer.
Computers can change your life for the better.”
—Steven Levy, U.S. writer. Hackers, ch. 2, “The Hacker Ethic,” pp. 27-33, Anchor Press, Doubleday (1984)