Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36963797›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2023

Diagnostic accuracy of heart auscultation for detecting valve disease: a systematic review.

Anne Herefoss Davidsen, Stian Andersen, Peder Andreas Halvorsen, Henrik Schirmer, Eirik Reierth, Hasse Melbye

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07339007 (Observational Study to Validate a Family Physician Echocardiography Training Programme), which is not on this map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
7.2field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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.

NCT07339007 enrolling by invitationnot on this map

Observational Study to Validate a Family Physician Echocardiography Training Programme

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorSocietat Catalana de Medicina Familiar i Comunitària, Assoc. (CAMFiC)Ran2023 to 2027Enrolled500ConditionsHeart Failure, Valvular Heart Diseases, Atrial Fibrillation (AF), Arterial HypertensionArmsCohort of GPs: Training program, Cohort of patients
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.

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  20. A Noise-Robust Heart Sound Segmentation Algorithm Based on Shannon Energy.IEEE access : practical innovations, open solutions · 2024
    Article
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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Anne Herefoss DavidsenGeneral Practice Research Unit, Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University, Tromso, Norway anne.h.davidsen@uit.no.ORCID 0000-0001-6759-6011
Stian AndersenGeneral Practice Research Unit, Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University, Tromso, Norway.ORCID 0000-0003-1507-1349
Peder Andreas HalvorsenGeneral Practice Research Unit, Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University, Tromso, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-6519-9669
Henrik SchirmerDepartment of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo Faculty of Medicine, Lørenskog, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-9348-3149
Eirik ReierthScience and Health Library, UiT The Arctic University, Tromso, Troms, Norway.
Hasse MelbyeGeneral Practice Research Unit, Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University, Tromso, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-9773-3141
UiT The Arctic University of Norway · NOUniversity of Oslo · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy in detecting valvular heart disease (VHD) by heart auscultation, performed by medical doctors. DESIGN/

methodsA systematic literature search for diagnostic studies comparing heart auscultation to echocardiography or angiography, to evaluate VHD in adults, was performed in MEDLINE (1947-November 2021) and EMBASE (1947-November 2021). Two reviewers screened all references by title and abstract, to select studies to be included. Disagreements were resolved by consensus meetings. Reference lists of included studies were also screened. The results are presented as a narrative synthesis, and risk of bias was assessed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2.

main outcome measuresSensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios (LRs).

resultsWe found 23 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Auscultation was compared with full echocardiography in 15 of the articles; pulsed Doppler was used as reference standard in 2 articles, while aortography and ventriculography was used in 5 articles. One article used point-of-care ultrasound. The articles were published from year 1967 to 2021. Sensitivity of auscultation ranged from 30% to 100%, and specificity ranged from 28% to 100%. LRs ranged from 1.35 to 26. Most of the included studies used cardiologists or internal medicine residents or specialists as auscultators, whereas two used general practitioners and two studied several different auscultators.

conclusionSensitivity, specificity and LRs of auscultation varied considerably across the different studies. There is a sparsity of data from general practice, where auscultation of the heart is usually one of the main methods for detecting VHD. Based on this review, the diagnostic utility of auscultation is unclear and medical doctors should not rely too much on auscultation alone. More research is needed on how auscultation, together with other clinical findings and history, can be used to distinguish patients with VHD. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018091675.

Indexed as

Heart AuscultationHeart Valve DiseasesAdultAuscultationEchocardiographyHumansUltrasonographyAdult cardiologyMEDICAL EDUCATION & TRAININGPRIMARY CAREValvular heart disease

Identifiers

PMID36963797
PMCPMC10040065
OpenAlexW4360843913

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.