Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41686401›Full record

SynthesisJournal of ultrasound2026

Diagnostic accuracy of Doppler Sonography of hepatic blood vessels in the detection of significant liver fibrosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

R A Nmai, Y A Wiafe, A Donkor, I C Anyitey-Kokor, T K Adu-Bredu, S O Antwi, L R Roberts

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of ultrasound, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors.

R A NmaiDepartment of Medical Imaging, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. dostydadson@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-1545-0274
Y A WiafeDepartment of Medical Imaging, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
A DonkorDepartment of Medical Imaging, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
I C Anyitey-KokorDepartment of Medical Imaging, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
T K Adu-BreduNuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
S O AntwiDivision of Epidemiology, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA.
L R RobertsDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Doppler ultrasound indices specifically the hepatic vein resistive index (HVRI) and hepatic artery resistive index (HARI) for detecting significant liver fibrosis (≥ F2), using liver biopsy as the reference standard. The key research question was whether HVRI and HARI can reliably detect significant fibrosis in chronic liver disease.

methodsA comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Scopus. Eligible studies assessed HVRI or HARI against biopsy-confirmed fibrosis grades. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were calculated using a random-effects model to account for inter-study heterogeneity. Four studies met the inclusion criteria.

resultsHVRI demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy, with pooled sensitivity of 91% (95% CI, 0.75-0.97; I

conclusionHVRI shows high diagnostic accuracy for significant liver fibrosis in the research context but its translation to routine clinical use is inhibited by high heterogeneity, operator dependency and reproducibility. Further validation in diverse and low-resource populations with standardized protocols is essential to establish its clinical utility and expand accessibility.

Indexed as

Hepatic ArteryHepatic VeinsLiver CirrhosisUltrasonography, DopplerHumansLiverReproducibility of ResultsSensitivity and SpecificityVascular ResistanceBiopsyDopplerHepatic Artery Resistive IndexHepatic Vein Resistive IndexLiver fibrosisUltrasonography

Identifiers

PMID41686401
PMCPMC13000044

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.