Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41979328›Full record

SynthesisBlood advances2026

Diagnostic utility of immunofixation and free light chain assay in AL amyloidosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Muayad Azzam, Qais Hamarsha, Hassan Kawtharany, Jamil Nazzal, Aseel Alkhader, Tala Khraise, Mohammad Mahmoud AlMasri, Hadi Khaled Abou Zeid, Iktimal Alwan, Nour Jaber and 21 more

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Blood advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

31 authors.

Muayad AzzamEvidence-Based Practice and Impact Center, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.ORCID 0000-0002-2046-8343
Qais HamarshaEvidence-Based Practice and Impact Center, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Hassan KawtharanyEvidence-Based Practice and Impact Center, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.ORCID 0009-0007-3725-8485
Jamil NazzalEvidence-Based Practice and Impact Center, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Aseel AlkhaderEvidence-Based Practice and Impact Center, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Tala KhraiseNorthwest Health-Porter, Valparaiso, IN.
Mohammad Mahmoud AlMasriKing Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, Jordan.
Hadi Khaled Abou ZeidDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC.ORCID 0000-0002-5111-3043
Iktimal AlwanAdventHealth, Tampa, FL.
Nour JaberEvidence-Based Practice and Impact Center, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Matthew D SeftelDepartment of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-0960-2687
Maria Adela AguirreInternal Medicine Department, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.ORCID 0000-0001-9690-2284
Deborah BoedickerMackenzie's Mission, Reston, VA.ORCID 0000-0001-7254-4654
Naresh BummaDivision of Hematology, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH.
Antonia CarrollDepartment of Neurology and Neurophysiology, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-1738-9580
Raymond ComenzoTufts Medical Center, Boston, MA.
Joselle CookDivision of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.ORCID 0000-0001-5335-9533
Noel DasguptaDivision of Cardiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN.
Alfredo H De La TorreQEII Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Angela DispenzieriDivision of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.ORCID 0000-0001-8780-9512
Faizi JamalDivision of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA.ORCID 0009-0009-5459-3431
Jack KhouriDepartment of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH.ORCID 0000-0002-2473-6528
Maria M PickenDepartment of Pathology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL.ORCID 0000-0002-8065-6178
Shahzad RazaTaussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
Nelson LeungDivision of Nephrology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.ORCID 0000-0002-5651-1411
Vaishali SanchorawalaSection of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA.ORCID 0000-0002-6307-2445
Nitasha SarswatAdvanced Heart Failure, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Transplantation, Division of Cardiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.ORCID 0000-0003-0233-7881
Hira ShaikhHolden Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Daulath SinghMission Cancer + Blood, Des Moines, IA.
Vishal KukretiPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Reem A MustafaDivision of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.ORCID 0000-0002-2091-0875

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

abstractIn this systematic review, we aimed to assess the sensitivity of serum immunofixation (SIFE), urine immunofixation (UIFE), and serum free light chain (sFLC) in detecting plasma cell dyscrasia associated with light chain (AL) amyloidosis. We searched the literature using PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL databases since inception through March 2024. We included studies reporting the diagnostic accuracy of immunofixation and/or sFLC in patients with AL amyloidosis. We used the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach to assess the certainty of the evidence and QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2) to assess the risk of bias. After deduplication, 29 237 records were screened, and 44 studies (n = 18 071) were included. For the meta-analysis, 28 studies reported sensitivity for SIFE (n = 3390), 24 studies for UIFE (n = 2830), 19 studies for SIFE and UIFE (n = 2819), 21 studies for sFLC ratio (n = 3678), 6 studies for SIFE and sFLC ratio (n = 372), 3 studies for UIFE and sFLC ratio (n = 242), and 10 studies for all 3 tests (n = 1430). Pooled sensitivities were as follows: SIFE, 0.68 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.73); UIFE, 0.77 (95% CI, 0.72-0.81); SIFE and UIFE, 0.89 (95% CI, 0.84-0.93); and sFLC ratio, 0.82 (95% CI, 0.78-0.86). When SIFE, UIFE, and sFLC ratio were combined, the sensitivity reached 0.99 (95% CI, 0.96-1.00). The high sensitivity of combining SIFE, UIFE, and sFLC ratio supports their use as a reliable initial testing strategy to raise suspicion for AL amyloidosis and guide decisions regarding future diagnostic modalities.

Indexed as

Immunoglobulin Light-chain AmyloidosisImmunoglobulin Light ChainsBiomarkersHumansSensitivity and SpecificityBiomarkersImmunoglobulin Light Chains

Identifiers

PMID41979328
PMCPMC13449447

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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.