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Diagnostic power of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for the presence of lymph node metastasis: A meta-analysis

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Summary

Present work was designed to quantitatively evaluate the performance of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) in the diagnosis of the presence of metastasis in lymph nodes (LNs). Eligible studies were identified from systematical PubMed and EMBASE searches. Data were extracted. Meta-analyses were performed to generate pooled sensitivity and specificity on the basis of per-node, per-lesion and per-patient, respectively. Fourteen publications (2458 LNs, 404 lesions and 334 patients) were eligible. Per-node basis demonstrated the pooled sensitivity and specificity was 0.82 (P<0.0001) and 0.90 (P<0.0001), respectively. Per-lesion basis illustrated the pooled sensitivity and specificity was 0.73 (P=0.0036) and 0.85 (P<0.0001), respectively. Per-patient basis indicated the pooled sensitivity and specificity was 0.67 (P=0.0909) and 0.86 (P<0.0001), respectively. In conclusion, DWI has rather a negative predictive value for the diagnosis of LN metastasis presence. The difference of the mean apparent diffusion coefficients between benign and malignant LNs is not yet stable. Therefore, the DWI technique has to be further improved.

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Acknowledgments

All authors would like to thank Dr. Luc Koster (Siegfried Weller Institut, BG Trauma Center Tübingen, Eberhard- Karls-University Tübingen, Germany) for editing the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. The authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Xiang-chuang Kong  (孔祥闯) & Xiang-quan Kong  (孔祥泉)

  2. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Ling-yun Xiong  (熊凌云)

  3. Department of Hand-Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Burn Center, BG Trauma Center Ludwigshafen, University of Heidelberg, 67071, Ludwigshafen, Germany

    Ling-yun Xiong  (熊凌云), Emre Gazyakan, Holger Engel, Ulrich Kneser & Christoph Hirche

  4. Department of Hand-Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Medical Center Kassel, 34109, Kassel, Germany

    Emre Gazyakan

  5. BG Trauma Center, Siegfried Weller Institut, Eberhard-Karls-University Tuebingen, Schnarrenbergstr. 95, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Andreas K. Nüssler

Authors
  1. Xiang-chuang Kong  (孔祥闯)
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  3. Emre Gazyakan
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  8. Xiang-quan Kong  (孔祥泉)
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xiang-chuang Kong  (孔祥闯) or Xiang-quan Kong  (孔祥泉).

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Kong, Xc., Xiong, Ly., Gazyakan, E. et al. Diagnostic power of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for the presence of lymph node metastasis: A meta-analysis. J. Huazhong Univ. Sci. Technol. [Med. Sci.] 37, 469–474 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-017-1759-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-017-1759-z

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