Brouns F, Stas M, De Wever I
Department of Surgical Oncology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Catholic University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Eur J Surg Oncol. 2003 Jun;29(5):440-5. doi: 10.1016/s0748-7983(03)00006-4.
We reviewed 100 patients referred with soft tissue sarcoma between May 1999 to determine doctor- and patient-related delay.
Patient delay is defined as longer than one month from first symptoms till doctor's visit, doctor delay as longer than one month from first visit till definitive diagnosis. Sixty-eight patients had a multifactional delay.
Forty-seven patients showed patient delay, with a median patient delay of 4 months, ranging from 2 to 240 months. The main reason for this delay is a painless mass that is mostly ignored. When pain is present, median patient delay is shorter.Twenty-seven patients experienced doctor delay, ranging from 2 to 79 months, with a median of 6 months. The most frequent reason was a misdiagnosis from the outset, on a clinical basis only, or due to a wrong diagnosis on ultrasound. Only two of these 27 patients had a biopsy, showing a benign tumour. High grade tumours are diagnosed earlier, 85% within 6 months.
Delay in diagnosis of soft tissue sarcomas is still a problem requiring better patient and doctor education.
我们回顾了1999年5月至[此处原文缺失结束时间]期间转诊的100例软组织肉瘤患者，以确定与医生和患者相关的延误情况。
患者延误定义为从首次出现症状到就诊时间超过1个月，医生延误定义为从首次就诊到明确诊断时间超过1个月。68例患者存在多因素延误。
47例患者出现患者延误，患者延误中位数为4个月，范围为2至240个月。这种延误的主要原因是无痛性肿块，大多被忽视。出现疼痛时，患者延误中位数较短。27例患者经历医生延误，范围为2至79个月，中位数为6个月。最常见的原因是从一开始仅基于临床误诊，或因超声诊断错误。这27例患者中只有2例进行了活检，显示为良性肿瘤。高级别肿瘤诊断较早，85%在6个月内确诊。
软组织肉瘤的诊断延误仍然是一个问题，需要对患者和医生进行更好的教育。
