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Alvan R. Feinstein, MD
New Haven, Conn

JAMA. 1986;255(3):323.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

In the July 12th issue of JAMA, Drs Williams and Jones¹ conclude that the capillary-fragility tourniquet test is "of no value in screening for diabetic retinopathy." The conclusion is based on the following data:

The conclusion seems entirely warranted because the sensitivity of a positive test in patients with retinopathy is 54% (27/50)—a value too low to make the test useful for general screening purposes. The relatively low specificity (65% =13/20 and 80% =16/20) in the two control groups is also discouraging because the test would lead to many false-positive results. On the other hand, when the test was "strongly positive," the authors' data show the following:

If accurate and reproducible in other groups of patients, these data suggest that a strongly positive tourniquet test is excellent, not in screening for retinopathy, but in confirming it. The concept is analogous to doing a bronchoscopic biopsy in . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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