Prognos (R) in the diagnosis of amalgam hypersensitivity - A diagnostic case-control study

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether the Prognos (R) device
might be a useful tool in the diagnosis of disorders suspected to
be due to dental amalgam fillings. Participants and Methods: A
diagnostic case-control study was performed in 27 patients who
complained about health problems attributed to amalgam ( cases), 27
healthy volunteers with amalgam fillings ( controls I), and 27
healthy amalgam-free volunteers ( controls II). All participants
were tested before and after application of 300 mg DMPS
(2.3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonic acid) with Prognos, a diagnostic
device for the energetic measurement of Traditional Chinese
Medicine meridians. In addition, mercury was measured in blood,
urine, and saliva, and a lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) was
performed. Results: Diagnoses derived from the first and second
Prognos testing did not agree above chance (Cohen's Kappa = -0.11,
95% confidence interval -0.33 to 0.10; p = 0.30). Agreement for
secondary outcome measures was poor, too. Prognos measurements did
not differ between cases and controls. Correlations with
measurements in urine, blood and saliva were low. Conclusion: In
this study Prognos could not be shown to be a useful tool in the
diagnosis of disorders suspected to be due to dental amalgam
fillings.