SynthesisPediatrics2013
Magnetic resonance imaging for locating nonpalpable undescended testicles: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Pediatrics, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical practice guidelines for the management of differences of sex development in Japan.Endocrine journal · 2026Guideline
- Comparative evaluation of previously reported contralateral testicular length cutoffs for predicting nonviable testes in boys with unilateral nonpalpable testis.Surgery in practice and science · 2026Article
- Management of andrological disorders from childhood and adolescence to transition age: guidelines from the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine (SIAMS) in collaboration with the Italian Society for Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology (SIEDP) - part-2.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2026Article
- Clinical practice guidelines for the management of differences of sex development in Japan.Clinical pediatric endocrinology : case reports and clinical investigations : official journal of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Endocrinology · 2026Review
- Bilateral High Intra-Abdominal Testes Successfully Treated With Multistage Fowler-Stephens Orchiopexy to Preserve Testicular Function.IJU case reports · 2025Article
- Are We Going to Give Up Imaging in Cryptorchidism Management?Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Utility of diffusion weighted Magnetic Resonance Imagining to detect non-palpable undescended testis.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2024Article
- When to ask for an MRI of the scrotum.Andrology · 2021Review
- Comparison of Two Types of Staged Laparoscopic Orchiopexy for High Intra-Abdominal Testes in Children: A Retrospective Study From a Single Center.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Article
- Imaging of the scrotum: beyond sonography.Insights into imaging · 2018Review
- MRI of the scrotum: Recommendations of the ESUR Scrotal and Penile Imaging Working Group.European radiology · 2018Review
- Current Management of Undescended Testes.Current treatment options in pediatrics · 2016Article
- Unnecessary diagnostic imaging: a review of the literature on preoperative imaging for boys with undescended testes.Translational andrology and urology · 2014Review
- Evaluation of the level of information of pediatricians about the diagnosis and management of cryptorchidism.Jornal de pediatriaObservational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivePreoperative imaging techniques may guide management of nonpalpable, cryptorchid testicles. We evaluated conventional MRI for identifying and locating nonpalpable testicles in prepubescent boys via meta-analysis.
methodsDatabases including Medline were searched from 1980 to February 2012. Eligible studies included ≥10 boys with cryptorchidism/suspected cryptorchidism and reported data on testicular presence/absence and position (abdominal, inguinal, or scrotal) as determined by imaging and surgery. Two investigators independently reviewed studies against inclusion criteria. We captured the number of testicles that were correctly and incorrectly identified and located, relative to surgically verified status, and estimated sensitivity and specificity by using a random-effects model.
resultsEight unique prospective case series included 171 boys with 193 nonpalpable testicles (22 with bilateral testicles). Surgery identified 158 testicles (81.9%) present and 35 absent. MRI correctly identified testicles with an estimated median sensitivity of 0.62 (95% Bayesian credible interval [BCI]: 0.47-0.77) and a specificity of 1.0 (95% BCI: 0.99-1.0). MRI located intraabdominal testicles with a sensitivity of 0.55 (95% BCI: 0.09-1.0) and inguino-scrotal testicles with a sensitivity of 0.86 (95% BCI: 0.67-1.0). We were not able to obtain estimates for MRI sensitivity or specificity for locating atrophied testicles. The estimated specificity for location-specific testicles reached almost 100%.
conclusionsConventional MRI has low sensitivity for estimating the population sensitivity for identifying the presence of nonpalpable cryptorchid testicles. When testicles are identified, MRI is poor at locating both atrophied and intraabdominal testicles but performs modestly well in locating those in the inguino-scrotal regions.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.