Diagnostic Accuracy of 2D-Shear Wave Elastography for Liver Fibrosis Severity: A Meta-Analysis

<div><p>Purpose</p><p>To evaluate the accuracy of shear wave elastography (SWE) in the quantitative diagnosis of liver fibrosis severity.</p><p>Methods</p><p>The published literatures were systematically retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Web of science and Scopus up to May 13^th, 2016. Included studies reported the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, as well as the diagnostic odds ratio of SWE in populations with liver fibrosis. A bivariate mixed-effects regression model was used, which was estimated by the <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> statistics. The quality of articles was evaluated by quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS).</p><p>Results</p><p>Thirteen articles including 2303 patients were qualified for the study. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of SWE for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis are as follows: <b>≥</b>F1 0.76 (<i>p</i><0.001, 95% CI, 0.71–0.81, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 75.33%), 0.92 (<i>p</i><0.001, 95% CI, 0.80–0.97, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 79.36%); <b>≥</b>F2 0.84 (<i>p</i> = 0.35, 95% CI, 0.81–0.86, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 9.55%), 0.83 (<i>p</i><0.001, 95% CI, 0.77–0.88, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 86.56%); <b>≥</b>F3 0.89 (<i>p</i> = 0.56, 95% CI, 0.86–0.92, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 0%), 0.86 (<i>p</i><0.001, 95% CI, 0.82–0.90, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 75.73%); F4 0.89 (<i>p</i> = 0.24, 95% CI, 0.84–0.92, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 20.56%), 0.88 (<i>p</i><0.001, 95% CI, 0.84–0.92, <i>I</i>^<i>2</i> = 82.75%), respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed no significant changes if any one of the studies was excluded. Publication bias was not detected in this meta-analysis.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Our study suggests that SWE is a helpful method to appraise liver fibrosis severity. Future studies that validate these findings would be appropriate.</p></div

Flow diagram of the study selection process.

<p>Flow diagram of the study selection process.</p

Summaries of the studies included.

<p>Summaries of the studies included.</p

Quality assessment for included studies by QUADAS.

<p>Quality assessment for included studies by QUADAS.</p

SROC curve of SWE in ≥F1-4 stagings (A, B, C and D) for liver fibrosis.

<p>SROC curve of SWE in ≥F1-4 stagings (A, B, C and D) for liver fibrosis.</p

Visualization 1: Dynamic phase measurement based on spatial carrier-frequency phase-shifting method

The phase variation of a droplet evaporation process Originally published in Optics Express on 27 June 2016 (oe-24-13-13744