scholarly journals Diagnostic concordance and discordance in digital pathology: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. jclinpath-2020-206764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayesha S Azam ◽  
Islam M Miligy ◽  
Peter K-U Kimani ◽  
Heeba Maqbool ◽  
Katherine Hewitt ◽  
...  

BackgroundDigital pathology (DP) has the potential to fundamentally change the way that histopathology is practised, by streamlining the workflow, increasing efficiency, improving diagnostic accuracy and facilitating the platform for implementation of artificial intelligence–based computer-assisted diagnostics. Although the barriers to wider adoption of DP have been multifactorial, limited evidence of reliability has been a significant contributor. A meta-analysis to demonstrate the combined accuracy and reliability of DP is still lacking in the literature.ObjectivesWe aimed to review the published literature on the diagnostic use of DP and to synthesise a statistically pooled evidence on safety and reliability of DP for routine diagnosis (primary and secondary) in the context of validation process.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was conducted through PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar for studies published between 2013 and August 2019. The search protocol identified all studies comparing DP with light microscopy (LM) reporting for diagnostic purposes, predominantly including H&E-stained slides. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to pool evidence from the studies.ResultsTwenty-five studies were deemed eligible to be included in the review which examined a total of 10 410 histology samples (average sample size 176). For overall concordance (clinical concordance), the agreement percentage was 98.3% (95% CI 97.4 to 98.9) across 24 studies. A total of 546 major discordances were reported across 25 studies. Over half (57%) of these were related to assessment of nuclear atypia, grading of dysplasia and malignancy. These were followed by challenging diagnoses (26%) and identification of small objects (16%).ConclusionThe results of this meta-analysis indicate equivalent performance of DP in comparison with LM for routine diagnosis. Furthermore, the results provide valuable information concerning the areas of diagnostic discrepancy which may warrant particular attention in the transition to DP.

Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 3728-3732
Author(s):  
Yerim Kim ◽  
Soo Young Kim

Background and Purpose: Although aPLs (antiphospholipid antibodies) are associated with thrombotic events, especially in young patients, the role of aPLs in recurrent ischemic strokes (RIS) is unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the association between aPLs and RIS. Methods: The systematic review was conducted by a computer-assisted search of literature in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library published in English or Korean from 1990, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement (PRISMA). Review Manager 5.3 software was used for statistical analyses. Results: Of the 2272 identified articles, 8 studies were included (2510 subjects; 844 aPL positive). The meta-analysis revealed a relative risk of aPLs for RIS of 1.41 (95% CI, 0.91–2.17; I 2 =54%). In the subgroup analysis, age <50 years, ethnicity, and type of aPL did not increase the risk of RIS. Conclusions: We found that aPLs are not an independent predictor for RIS in adults. However, considering the nonstandardized disease criteria, further well-designed prospective trials should be considered to confirm these findings.


Author(s):  
Maurits Van den Noort ◽  
Sujung Yeo ◽  
Sabina Lim ◽  
Sook-Hyun Lee ◽  
Heike Staudte ◽  
...  

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that has a large impact on patients&rsquo; lives. In addition to Western medicine, the use of additional treatments, such as acupuncture, in treating the positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms is increasing. Methods: We conducted a systematic review on the use of acupuncture as an add-on treatment for patients with schizophrenia that are in regular care, with a special focus on the treatment of the often accompanying co-morbid sleep disorders. In this study, we searched the Medline, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and ERIC databases with a cut-off date of December 31, 2017, thereby following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol. Results: Our search resulted in 26 eligible studies. Most studies showed limited evidence for the use of acupuncture as add-on therapy in the treatment of clinical symptoms, but beneficial effects have been reported in the treatment of co-morbid sleep disorders. Conclusions: Limited evidence was found for the use of acupuncture as add-on therapy in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia; however, positive results were found in the treatment of sleep disorders, but this result needs to be confirmed in large, randomized, controlled trials.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 2177-2192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilky Pollansky Silva e Farias ◽  
Simone Alves de Sousa ◽  
Leopoldina de Fátima Dantas de Almeida ◽  
Bianca Marques Santiago ◽  
Antonio Carlos Pereira ◽  
...  

Abstract This systematic review compared the oral health status between institutionalized and non-institutionalized elders. The following electronic databases were searched: PubMed (Medline), Scopus, Web of Science, Lilacs and Cochrane Library, in a comprehensive and unrestricted manner. Electronic searches retrieved 1687 articles, which were analyzed with regards to respective eligibility criteria. After reading titles and abstracts, five studies were included and analyzed with respect their methodological quality. Oral status of institutionalized and non-institutionalized elderly was compared through meta-analysis. Included articles involved a cross-sectional design, which investigated 1936 individuals aged 60 years and over, being 999 Institutionalized and 937 non-institutionalized elders. Studies have investigated the prevalence of edentulous individuals, the dental caries experience and the periodontal status. Meta-analysis revealed that institutionalized elderly have greater prevalence of edentulous (OR = 2.28, 95%CI = 1.68-3.07) and higher number of decayed teeth (MD = 0.88, 95%CI = 0.71-1.05) and missed teeth (MD = 4.58, 95%CI = 1.89-7.27). Poor periodontal status did not differ significantly between groups. Compared to non-institutionalized, institutionalized elders have worse dental caries experience.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 589-597
Author(s):  
BGS Casado ◽  
EP Pellizzer ◽  
JR Souto Maior ◽  
CAA Lemos ◽  
BCE Vasconcelos ◽  
...  

Clinical Relevance The use of laser light during bleaching will not reduce the incidence or severity of sensitivity and will not increase the degree of color change compared with nonlaser light sources. SUMMARY Objective: To evaluate whether the use of laser during in-office bleaching promotes a reduction in dental sensitivity after bleaching compared with other light sources. Methods: The present review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) and is registered with PROSPERO (CDR42018096591). Searches were conducted in the PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases for relevant articles published up to August 2018. Only randomized clinical trials among adults that compared the use of laser during in-office whitening and other light sources were considered eligible. Results: After analysis of the texts retrieved during the database search, six articles met the eligibility criteria and were selected for the present review. For the outcome dental sensitivity, no significant difference was found favoring any type of light either for intensity (mean difference [MD]: −1.60; confidence interval [CI]: −3.42 to 0.22; p=0.09) or incidence (MD: 1.00; CI: 0.755 to 1.33; p=1.00). Regarding change in tooth color, no significant differences were found between the use of the laser and other light sources (MD: −2.22; CI: −6.36 to 1.93; p=0.29). Conclusions: Within the limitations of the present study, laser exerts no influence on tooth sensitivity compared with other light sources when used during in-office bleaching. The included studies demonstrated that laser use during in-office bleaching may have no influence on tooth color change.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhan Hugh-Jones ◽  
Sophie Beckett ◽  
Pavan Mallikarjun

Schools are promising sites for the delivery of prevention and early intervention programs to reduce child and adolescent anxiety. It is unclear whether universal or targeted approaches are most effective. This review and meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of school-based indicated interventions and was registered with PROSPERO [CRD42018087628].MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library were searched for randomised controlled trials comparing indicated school programs for child and adolescent anxiety to active or inactive control groups. Twenty original studies, with 2076 participants, met the inclusion criteria and 18 were suitable for meta-analysis. Sub-group and sensitivity analyses explored intervention intensity, delivery agent and control type. A small beneficial effect was found for indicated programs compared to controls on self-reported anxiety symptoms at post-test (g = -0.28, CI = -0.50, -0.05, k= 18). The small effect was maintained at 6 (g = -0.35, CI= -0.58, -0.13, k = 9) and 12 months (g = -0.24, CI = -0.48, 0.00, k = 4). Based on two studies, &gt;12 month effects were very small (g = -0.01, CI= -0.38, 0.36). No differences were found based on intervention intensity, delivery agent and control type. There was evidence of publication bias and a relatively high risk of contamination in studies. Findings support the value of school based indicated programs for child and adolescent anxiety. Effects at 12 months outperform many universal programs. High quality, randomised controlled and pragmatic trials are needed, with attention control groups and beyond 12 month diagnostic assessments are needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (44) ◽  
pp. 5739-5745
Author(s):  
Jieqiong Guan ◽  
Wenjing Song ◽  
Pan He ◽  
Siyu Fan ◽  
Hong Zhi ◽  
...  

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for patients who received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with a drug-eluting stent. Background: The optimal duration of DAPT to balance the risk of ischemia and bleeding in CAD patients undergoing drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation remains controversial. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Clinicaltrials.gov, CNKI and Wanfang Databases were searched for randomized controlled trials of comparing different durations of DAPT after DES implantation. Primary outcomes were major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), and major bleeding, and were pooled by Bayes network meta-analysis. Net adverse clinical and cerebral events were used to estimate the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) curves. The subgroup analysis based on clinical status, follow-up and area was conducted using traditional pairwise meta-analysis. Results: A total of nineteen trials (n=51,035) were included, involving six duration strategies. The network metaanalysis showed that T2 (<6-month DAPT followed by aspirin, HR:1.51, 95%CI:1.02-2.22), T3 (standard 6-month DAPT, HR:1.47, 95%CI:1.14-1.91), T4 (standard 12-month DAPT, HR:1.41, 95%CI:1.15-1.75) and T5 (18-24 months DAPT, HR:1.47, 95%CI:1.09-1.97) was associated with significantly increased risk of MACCE compared to T6 (>24-month DAPT). However, no significant difference was found in MACCE risk between T1 (<6-month DAPT followed by P2Y12 monotherapy) and T6. Moreover, T5 was associated with significantly increased risk of bleeding compared to T1(RR:3.94, 95%CI:1.66-10.60), T2(RR:3.65, 95%CI:1.32-9.97), T3(RR:1.93, 95%CI:1.21-3.50) and T4(RR:1.89, 95%CI:1.15-3.30). The cumulative probabilities showed that T6(85.0%), T1(78.3%) and T4(44.5%) were the most efficacious treatment compared to the other durations. In the ACS (<50%) subgroup, T1 was observed to significantly reduce the risk of major bleeding compared to T4, but not in the ACS (≥50%) subgroup. Conclusions: Compared with other durations, short DAPT followed by P2Y12 inhibitor monotherapy showed non-inferiority, with a lower risk of bleeding and not associated with an increased MACCE. In addition, the risk of major bleeding increased significantly, starting with DAPT for 18-month. Compared with the short-term treatment, patients with ACS with the standard 12-month treatment have a better prognosis, including lower bleeding rate and the decreased risk of MACCE. Due to study's limitations, the results should be verified in different risk populations.


Author(s):  
Roja Rahimi ◽  
Shekoufeh Nikfar ◽  
Masoud Sadeghi ◽  
Mohammad Abdollahi ◽  
Reza Heidary Moghaddam ◽  
...  

Background: It has been found that there is a link between hypertension and elevated risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Herein, a meta-analysis based on randomized clinical trials (RCTs) was used to assess the effect of antihypertensive drugs on cognition and behavioral symptoms of AD patients. Method: The three databases – PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane Library- were searched up to March 2020. The quality of the studies included in the meta-analysis was evaluated by the Jadad score. Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC) included in two studies, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) included in three studies, and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) in three studies were the main outcomes in this systematic review. Results: Out of 1506 studies retrieved in the databases, 5 RCTs included and analyzed in the meta-analysis. The pooled mean differences of CGIC, MMSE, and NPI in patients with AD receiving antihypertensive drugs compared to placebo was -1.76 with (95% CI = -2.66 to -0.86; P=0.0001), 0.74 (95% CI = 0.20 to 1.28; P= 0.007), and -9.49 (95% CI = -19.76 to 0.79; P = 0.07), respectively. Conclusion: The findings of the present meta-analysis show that antihypertensive drugs may improve cognition and behavioral symptoms of patients with AD. However, more well-designed RCTs with similar drugs are needed to achieve more conclusive results.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 610-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huifeng Zhang ◽  
Dan Liu ◽  
Huanhuan Huang ◽  
Yujia Zhao ◽  
Hui Zhou

Background: β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulates abnormally to senile plaque which is the initiator of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As one of the Aβ-degrading enzymes, Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) remains controversial for its protein level and activity in Alzheimer's brain. Methods: The electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, OVID and Sinomed were systemically searched up to Sep. 20th, 2017. And the published case-control or cohort studies were retrieved to perform the meta-analysis. Results: Seven studies for IDE protein level (AD cases = 293; controls = 126), three for mRNA level (AD cases = 138; controls = 81), and three for enzyme activity (AD cases = 123; controls = 75) were pooling together. The IDE protein level was significantly lower in AD cases than in controls (SMD = - 0.47, 95% CI [-0.69, -0.24], p < 0.001), but IDE mRNA and enzyme activity had no significant difference (SMD = 0.02, 95% CI [-0.40, 0.43] and SMD = 0.06, 95% CI [-0.41, 0.53] respectively). Subgroup analyses found that IDE protein level was decreased in both cortex and hippocampus of AD cases (SMD = -0.43, 95% CI [-0.71, -0.16], p = 0.002 and SMD = -0.53, 95% CI [-0.91, -0.15], p = 0.006 respectively). However, IDE mRNA was higher in cortex of AD cases (SMD = 0.71, 95% CI [0.14, 1.29], p = 0.01), not in hippocampus (SMD = -0.26, 95% CI [-0.58, 0.06]). Conclusions: Our results indicate that AD patients may have lower IDE protease level. Further relevant studies are still needed to verify whether IDE is one of the factors affecting Aβ abnormal accumulation and throw new insights for AD detection or therapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-111
Author(s):  
Haitao Liu ◽  
Wei Ge ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Xue Kong ◽  
Weiming Jian ◽  
...  

Objectives: Previous case-control studies have focused on the relationship between ALDH2 gene polymorphism and late-onset Alzheimer's Disease (LOAD), but no definite unified conclusion has been reached. Therefore, the correlation between ALDH2 Glu504Lys polymorphism and LOAD remains controversial. To analyze the correlation between ALDH2 polymorphism and the risk of LOAD, we implemented this up-to-date meta-analysis to assess the probable association. Methods: Studies were searched through China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, China Biology Medicine, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Clinical- Trials.gov, Embase, and MEDLINE from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 2018, without any restrictions on language and ethnicity. Results: Five studies of 1057 LOAD patients and 1136 healthy controls met our criteria for the analysis. Statistically, the ALDH2 GA/AA genotype was not linked with raising LOAD risk (odds ratio (OR) = 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.96-2.28, p = 0.07). In subgroup analysis, the phenomenon that men with ALDH2*2 had higher risk for LOAD (OR = 1.72, 95%CI = 1.10-2.67, p = 0.02) was observed. Conclusions: This study comprehends only five existing case-control studies and the result is negative. The positive trend might appear when the sample size is enlarged. In the future, more large-scale casecontrol or cohort studies should be done to enhance the association between ALDH2 polymorphism and AD or other neurodegenerative diseases.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Josefien Johanna Froukje Breedvelt ◽  
Maria Elisabeth Brouwer ◽  
Mathias Harrer ◽  
Maria Semkovska ◽  
David Daniel Ebert ◽  
...  

Background After remission, antidepressants are often taken long term to prevent depressive relapse or recurrence. Whether psychological interventions can be a viable alternative or addition to antidepressants remains unclear. Aims To compare the effectiveness of psychological interventions as an alternative (including delivered when tapering antidepressants) or addition to antidepressants alone for preventing depressive relapse. Method Embase, PubMed, the Cochrane Library and PsycINFO were searched from inception until 13 October 2019. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with previously depressed patients in (partial) remission where preventive psychological interventions with or without antidepressants (including tapering) were compared with antidepressant control were included. Data were extracted independently from published trials. A random-effects meta-analysis on time to relapse (hazard ratio, HR) and risk of relapse (risk ratio, RR) at the last point of follow-up was conducted. PROSPERO ID: CRD42017055301. Results Among 11 included trials (n = 1559), we did not observe an increased risk of relapse for participants receiving a psychological intervention while tapering antidepressants versus antidepressants alone (RR = 1.02, 95% CI 0.84–1.25; P = 0.85). Psychological interventions added to antidepressants significantly reduced the risk of relapse (RR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.74–0.97; P = 0.01) compared with antidepressants alone. Conclusions This study found no evidence to suggest that adding a psychological intervention to tapering increases the risk of relapse when compared with antidepressants alone. Adding a psychological intervention to antidepressant use reduces relapse risk significantly versus antidepressants alone. As neither strategy is routinely implemented these findings are relevant for patients, clinicians and guideline developers.


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