Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39703127›Full record

SynthesisDiabetes, obesity & metabolism2025

Diagnostic accuracy of Agile-4 score for liver cirrhosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy studies.

Konstantinos Malandris, Anastasia Katsoula, Aris Liakos, Thomas Karagiannis, Emmanouil Sinakos, Olga Giouleme, Philippos Klonizakis, Eleni Theocharidou, Eleni Gigi, Eleni Bekiari and 1 more

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Diabetes, obesity & metabolism, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. [Construction norms for the tiered diagnosis and treatment and standardized management center of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2026
    Guideline
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. 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

11 authors.

Konstantinos MalandrisClinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Second Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0002-5134-2401
Anastasia KatsoulaSecond Propaedeutic Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Aris LiakosClinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Second Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0003-3261-2979
Thomas KaragiannisClinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Second Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0001-5242-0574
Emmanouil SinakosFourth Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Olga GioulemeSecond Propaedeutic Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Philippos KlonizakisClinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Second Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eleni TheocharidouClinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Second Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eleni GigiClinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Second Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eleni BekiariClinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Second Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0001-9975-3835
Apostolos TsapasClinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Unit, Second Medical Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0003-0221-4072

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsA novel noninvasive score, Agile-4 score, combining liver stiffness measurements, aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase, platelet count, diabetes status and sex has been developed for the identification of cirrhosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). We assessed the performance of Agile-4 for ruling-in/out liver cirrhosis in MASLD patients. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe searched Medline, Cochrane library, Web of science, Scopus and Echosens website up to May 2024. Eligible studies assessed the accuracy of Agile-4 for ruling-in (≥0.565) and ruling-out (<0.251) liver cirrhosis, using biopsy as the reference standard, at predefined thresholds. We calculated pooled sensitivity and specificity estimates for both Agile-4 thresholds alongside 95% confidence intervals following bivariate random-effect models. We assessed the risk of bias using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool.

resultsWe included seven studies with 6037 participants. An Agile-4 score ≥0.565 yielded a pooled specificity of 0.93 (95% CI, 0.86-0.97). Similarly, an Agile-4 score <0.251 excluded cirrhosis with a summary sensitivity of 0.90 (0.80-0.95). Assuming a cirrhosis prevalence of 30%, the positive predictive value (PPV) for ruling-in cirrhosis was 80%, while the negative predictive value for ruling-out cirrhosis was 95%. Most studies were at high or unclear risk for bias due to concerns regarding patient selection and the blinding status of Agile-4 score interpretation in relation to biopsy results.

conclusionsAgile-4 score performs well for ruling-in/out liver cirrhosis in MASLD patients. Owing to the relatively low PPV, sequential application of the Agile-4 after fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) testing might further enhance its performance.

Indexed as

Fatty LiverLiver CirrhosisMetabolic DiseasesAlanine TransaminaseAspartate AminotransferasesElasticity Imaging TechniquesFemaleHumansMalePlatelet CountPredictive Value of TestsSensitivity and SpecificityAlanine TransaminaseAspartate AminotransferasesAgile‐4 scorecirrhosisMASLDmeta‐analysissystematic review

Identifiers

PMID39703127
PMCPMC11802403

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.