Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35812995›Full record

ArticleEClinicalMedicine2022

Reliability of bedside tests for diagnosing peripheral arterial disease in patients prone to medial arterial calcification: A systematic review.

Jeroen J W M Brouwers, Siem A Willems, Lauren N Goncalves, Jaap F Hamming, Abbey Schepers

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.9field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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

10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Diagnostic Performance of the Maximal Systolic Acceleration for Detecting a Significant Stenosis in the Aortoiliac and Popliteal Pathway: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of endovascular therapy : an official journal of the International Society of Endovascular Specialists · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Maximal Systolic Acceleration and Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging With Indocyanine Green as Predictors for Successful Lower Extremity Revascularization.Journal of endovascular therapy : an official journal of the International Society of Endovascular Specialists · 2026
    Article
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  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. 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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jeroen J W M BrouwersDepartment of Vascular Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Siem A WillemsDepartment of Vascular Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Lauren N GoncalvesDepartment of Surgery, Haaglanden Medical Center, the Hague, the Netherlands.
Jaap F HammingDepartment of Vascular Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Abbey SchepersDepartment of Vascular Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Leiden University Medical Center · NLMedisch Centrum Haaglanden · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Medial arterial calcification (MAC), frequently associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), is a systemic vascular disorder leading to stiffness and incompressible arteries. These changes impede the accuracy of bedside tests to diagnose peripheral arterial disease (PAD). This review aimed to evaluate the reliability of bedside tests for the detection of PAD in patients prone to MAC. Methods: A systematic search (Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Emcare) was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines to identify relevant studies providing data on the performance of bedside tests for the detection of PAD in patients prone to MAC. Studies were included when bedside test were compared to a reference standard. Primary endpoints were the positive and negative likelihood ratios (PLR, NLR). Methodological quality and risk of bias were evaluated using the QUADAS-2 tool. Findings: In total, 23 studies were included in this review. The most commonly evaluated test was the ankle-brachial index (ABI), followed by toe-brachial index (TBI), toe pressure (TP) measurements, and continuous wave Doppler (CWD). The majority of patients were older, male, and had DM. We found that ABI <0·9 was helpful to diagnose PAD, but failed to rule out PAD (NLR >0·2). The same applied for TP (NLR >0·3) and TBI (5 out of 6 studies revealed an NLR >0·2). CWD (loss of triphasic pattern) is reliable to exclude PAD (NLR 0-0·09), but was only validated in two studies. Overall, methodological quality was poor which led to risk of bias in 20 studies. Interpretation: The diagnosis of PAD in patients prone to MAC remains challenging. The ABI performed reasonably in the diagnosis of PAD, while the CWD (loss of triphasic signal) can be used to rule out PAD. This systematic review showed that test performances were generally poor with serious concerns in methodological quality of the included studies. We therefore counsel against the use of a single bedside test. Funding: None to declare.

Indexed as

Chronic kidney diseaseDiabetes mellitusDiagnosisMedial arterial calcificationNon-invasive diagnosticsPeripheral arterial diseaseSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID35812995
PMCPMC9256539
OpenAlexW4283756175

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.