Published in:
01-11-2011 | Original Paper
Diagnosis value of focal liver lesions with SonoVue®-enhanced ultrasound compared with contrast-enhanced computed tomography and contrast-enhanced MRI: a meta-analysis
Published in: Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology | Issue 11/2011
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Purposes
This study is aimed at evaluating diagnostic value of focal liver lesions (FLLs) with SonoVue®-enhanced ultrasound compared with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CEMRI).
Methods
PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register were searched for English language articles published from January 2000 to May 2011. Histopathologic analysis and/or close clinical and imaging follow-up (except CECT or CEMRI) for at least 6 months were used as golden reference. Sensitivity, specificity, summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves, and area under the curve (AUC) were extracted to test heterogeneity.
Results
In 21 included studies, for the SonoVue®-enhanced ultrasound studies, sensitivity was 88% (95% CI 87–90), specificity was 81% (95% CI 79–84), and 38.62 (95% CI 13.64–109.35) for diagnostic odds ratio (DOR); for the CECT studies, sensitivity was 90% (95% CI 88–92), specificity was 77% (95% CI 71–82), and 30.84 (95% CI 11.11–85.61) for DOR; for the CEMRI studies, sensitivity was 86% (95% CI 83–88), specificity was 81% (95% CI 76–85), and 27.63 (95% CI 11.28–67.70) for DOR.
Conclusions
In comparison, SonoVue®-enhanced ultrasound had high pooled sensitivity and pooled specificity. SROC analysis showed the diagnostic value of FLLs with SonoVue®-enhanced ultrasound has no significant difference compared with CECT and CEMRI. SonoVue®-enhanced ultrasound is highly sensitive and specific in the characterization of FLLs to support an effective diagnostic method.