Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30278481›Full record

SynthesisMedicine2018

Feasibility and Efficacy of Transient Elastography using the XL probe to diagnose liver fibrosis and cirrhosis: A meta-analysis.

Bingqing Xia, Fengyan Wang, Mireen Friedrich-Rust, Fang Zhou, Jingyu Zhu, Hua Yang, Weishan Ruan, Zhirong Zeng

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  3. Review
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  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Observational
  12. [Visualization analysis of liver fibrosis diagnosis based on Citespace software].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2021
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.

Bingqing XiaDepartment of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan People's Hospital, Zhongshan, Guangdong.
Fengyan WangGuangdong Institute of Respiratory Disease, Guangdong, China.
Mireen Friedrich-RustDepartment of Internal Medicine, Goethe-University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany.
Fang ZhouDepartment of Radiology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou.
Jingyu ZhuDepartment of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan People's Hospital, Zhongshan.
Hua YangSchool of Stomatology and Medicine, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
Weishan RuanDepartment of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan People's Hospital, Zhongshan, Guangdong.
Zhirong ZengDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yan-sen University, Guangzhou.
Zhongshan People's Hospital · CNFoshan University · CNGoethe University Frankfurt · DESouthern Medical University · CNState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease · CNSun Yat-sen University · CNThe First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTransient elastography (TE) has been validated as an effective noninvasive tool for the assessment of liver fibrosis. The XL probe is a new probe that was initially designed for use in patients with obesity. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the feasibility and efficacy of TE using the XL probe.

methodsIn September 2016, we systematically searched the PubMed and Science Direct search engines. The feasibility of TE was evaluated based on the failure rate and the results of the unreliable liver stiffness measurement (LSM). The efficacy of TE was measured using sensitivity, specificity, and summary receiver-operating characteristic as measures/indices assessed in different stages of fibrosis. Heterogeneity was measured using the chi-squared test and the Q-statistic. We used the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) as an effect measure.

resultsWe included 8 studies in the meta-analysis. When the XL was compared to the M probe, the former showed a lower risk of failure rate [relative risk (RR) 0.24, 95% CI 0.14-0.38]. In patients with a body mass index ≥30 kg/m, the XL probe showed a statistically significantly lower risk of failure rate (RR 0.16, 95% CI 0.08-0.32) but no significant improvement (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.50-1.16) in the unreliable LSM result. In patients showing liver fibrosis stage ≥F2, the XL probe showed a sensitivity of 0.56 (95% CI 0.39-0.72), specificity of 0.71 (95% CI 0.61-0.79), and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.71. The results observed in patients with liver fibrosis stage F4 were more promising with a sensitivity of 0.84 (95% CI 0.76-0.90), specificity of 0.78 (95% CI 0.70-0.84), and an AUC of 0.88.

conclusionTE using the XL probe demonstrates significant diagnostic utility in patients with liver fibrosis and is likely to be more reliable than the M probe in patients with obesity. Large prospective multicenter studies are, however, necessary to establish the new cut-off values to be used for the XL probe in patients with obesity.

Indexed as

Body Mass IndexElasticity Imaging TechniquesFemaleHumansLiverLiver CirrhosisMaleObesitySensitivity and Specificity

Identifiers

PMID30278481
PMCPMC6181481
OpenAlexW2895755319

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.