scholarly journals Pooled Analysis of the Accuracy of Xpert Ebola Assay for Diagnosing Ebola Virus Infection

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Zhi-Yong Pan ◽  
Yan-Jun Wu ◽  
Ye-Xian Zeng ◽  
Hao Lin ◽  
Tian-Ao Xie ◽  
...  

Background. West Africa has witnessed the unprecedented outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD). The Ebola virus (EBOV) can cause Ebola hemorrhagic fever, which is documented as the most deadly viral hemorrhagic fever in the world. RT-PCR had been suggested to be employed in the detection of Ebola virus; however, this method has high requirements for laboratory equipment and takes a long time to determine Ebola infection. Although Xpert Ebola is a fast and simple instrument for the detection of Ebola virus, its effect is still unclear. This study is aimed at evaluating the accuracy of Xpert Ebola in diagnosing Ebola virus infection. Methods. Using the keywords “Xpert” and “Ebola virus”, relevant studies were retrieved from the database of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane. RT-PCR was employed as a reference standard to evaluate whether the study is eligible to be included in the meta-analysis. Data from these included studies were extracted by two independent assessors and were then analyzed by the Meta-DiSc 1.4 software to produce the heterogeneity of sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SP), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic advantage ratio (DOR) of the study. The results of pooled analysis were plotted, together with the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve plotted by calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Generated pooled summary estimates (95% CIs) were calculated for the evaluation of the overall accuracy of this study. Results. Five fourfold tables were made from the four studies that were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity of Xpert Ebola was 0.98 (95% confidence interval (CI) (0.95, 0.99)), and the pooled specificity was 0.98 (95% CI (0.97, 0.99)). The pooled values of positive likelihood ratio was 53.91 (95% CI (12.82, 226.79)), with negative likelihood ratio being 0.04 (95% CI (0.02, 0.08)) and diagnostic odds ratio being 2649.45 (95% CI (629.61, 11149.02)). The AUC was 0.9961. Conclusions. Compared with RT-PCR, Xpert Ebola has high sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, it is a valued alternative method for the clinical diagnosis of Ebola virus infection. However, the Xpert Ebola test is a qualitative test that does not provide quantitative testing of EBOV concentration. Whether it can completely replace other methods or not calls for further evidences.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Lan Tang ◽  
Xiao Chen ◽  
Chang-Guo Zhu ◽  
Zhong-wei Li ◽  
Yong Xia ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The present meta-analysis examined the diagnostic accuracy of T2 Candida for candidiasis. Methods The literature databases, such as PubMed, Embase, DVIO, Cochrane library, Web of Science, and CNKI, were searched on T2 Candida detection. Results A total of 8 articles, comprising of 2717 research subjects, were included in the study. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88–0.94) and 0.94 95% CI: 0.93–0.95), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio was 10.16 (95% CI: 2.75–37.50) and 0.08 (95% CI: 0.02–0.35), respectively. The combined diagnostic odds ratio is 133.65 95% CI: 17.21–1037.73), and the AUC of SROC is 0.9702 [(SE = 0.0235), Q* = 0.9201(SE = 0.0381)]. Conclusions The current evidence supported that T2 Candida has high accuracy and sensitivity and is of major clinical significance in the diagnosis of Candida infection.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Oladipo Babafemi ◽  
Benny P Cherian ◽  
Beatrice Ouma ◽  
Gilbert Mangua Mogoko

Abstract Background:Rapid and accurate diagnosis of paediatric tuberculosis (TB) is key to manage the disease and to control and prevent its transmission. Collection of quality sputum samples without invasion methods from paediatrics (age <16 years) with presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) remains a challenge. Clinical management is especially challenging, and recommendations are based on restricted evidence. Many established diagnostic methods suffer from low sensitivity or delay of timely results and are inadequate for rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in pulmonary and extra-pulmonary clinical samples. This study assessed the overall accuracy of a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based assay, with a turn-a-round time of 2 h, for routine diagnosis of MTB in different samples from paediatrics with active pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis using mycobacterial culture as the gold standard in clinical microbiology laboratories.Methods:We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the diagnostic accuracy of RT-PCR based assay for the detection of MTB in paediatric clinical samples. A systematic literature search was performed for publications in any language. The following sources were used MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE, BIOSIS Citation Index, Web of Science, SCOPUS, ISI Web of Knowledge, World Health Organization and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention websites, Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group Specialised Register, and grey literature. Twenty studies (5,536 specimens) that met set inclusion criteria were included. Bivariate random-effects model of meta-analysis were performed to generate pooled summary estimates (95% CIs) for overall accuracy of RT-PCR based assay compared to mycobacterial culture as the reference standard. Results:Of the 1592 candidate studies, twenty eligible studies met our inclusion criteria. In total, the review and meta-analysis included 5, 536 (3, 209 PTB and 2, 327 EPTB). Summary estimates for pulmonary TB (11 studies) were as follows: sensitivity 56 (95% CI 51-62), specificity 97 (95% CI 96-98), positive likelihood ratio 70.73 (95% CI 8.55-585.40), negative likelihood ratio 0.43 (0.28-0.66), diagnostic odds ratio 193.06 (95% CI 51.21- 727.83) and summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) area under curve 0.98. Summary estimates for extra-pulmonary TB (10 studies) were as follows: sensitivity 87 (95% CI 82-91)) specificity 100 (95% CI 99-100), positive likelihood ratio 111.91(53.97-232.04), negative likelihood ratio 0.15 (0.07-0.30), diagnostic odds ratio 1337.84 (95% CI 441.92- 4050.12) and summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) area under curve 0.99. There was significant heterogeneity in sensitivity and specificity among the enrolled studies (p< 0.001).Conclusions:Our results suggested that the RT-PCR based assay could be a useful test for the diagnosis of paediatrics TB with high sensitivity and specificity in low-income/high-burden and upper medium income/low-burden settings.RT-PCR assay demonstrated a high degree of sensitivity for extra-pulmonary TB and good sensitivity for pulmonary TB. It indicated a high degree of specificity for ruling in TB infection from sampling regimes. This was acceptable but may better as a rule out add-on diagnostic test. RT-PCR based assays demonstrate both a high degree of sensitivity in extra-pulmonary and moderate sensitivity in pulmonary samples and rapidity of detection of TB which is an important factor in achieving effective global control and for patient management in terms of initiating early and appropriate anti-tubercular therapy. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42018104052


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 153303382110119
Author(s):  
Wen-Ting Zhang ◽  
Guo-Xun Zhang ◽  
Shuai-Shuai Gao

Background: Leukemia is a common malignant disease in the human blood system. Many researchers have proposed circulating microRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of leukemia. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of circulating miRNAs in the diagnosis of leukemia. Methods: A comprehensive literature search (updated to October 13, 2020) in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Wanfang database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) was performed to identify eligible studies. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under the curve (AUC) for diagnosing leukemia were pooled for both overall and subgroup analysis. The meta-regression and subgroup analysis were performed to explore heterogeneity and Deeks’ funnel plot was used to assess publication bias. Results: 49 studies from 22 publications with a total of 3,489 leukemia patients and 2,756 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio and area under the curve were 0.83, 0.92, 10.8, 0.18, 59 and 0.94, respectively. Subgroup analysis shows that the microRNA clusters of plasma type could carry out a better diagnostic accuracy of leukemia patients. In addition, publication bias was not found. Conclusions: Circulating microRNAs can be used as a promising noninvasive biomarker in the early diagnosis of leukemia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Bingjie Zhang ◽  
Zhulin Zhou ◽  
Yutong Guo ◽  
Dan Wang

AbstractObjectiveGlycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) has obvious clinical value in the diagnosis of diabetes, but the conclusions on the diagnostic value of diabetic retinopathy (DR) are not consistent. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the accuracy of glycosylated hemoglobin in the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy through the meta-analysis of diagnostic tests.MethodsCochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) were searched until November, 2020. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool was used to assess the quality of the included studies. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (+LR), negative likelihood ratio (-LR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were calculated by Stata 15.0 software.ResultsAfter screening, 18 high-quality papers were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the combined DOR = 18.19 (95% CI: 10.99–30.11), the sensitivity= 0.81 (95% CI): 0.75 ~ 0.87), specificity = 0.81 (95%CI: 0.72 ~ 0.87), +LR = 4.2 (95%CI: 2.95 ~ 6.00), −LR = 0.23 (95%CI: 0.17 ~ 0.31), and the area under the Summary ROC curve was 0.88 (95%CI:  0.85 ~ 0.90).ConclusionThe overall accuracy of HbA1cC forin diagnosing diabetic retinopathy is good. As it is more stable than blood sugar and is not affected by meals, it may be a suitable indicator for diabetic retinopathy.


Open Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 266-273
Author(s):  
Min Tang ◽  
Jia Yang ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Luhua Zhang ◽  
Ying Peng ◽  
...  

AbstractMatrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has become one of the most popular methods for the rapid and cost-effective detection of clinical pathogenic microorganisms. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the diagnostic performance of MALDI-TOF MS with that of conventional approaches for the direct identification of pathogens from urine samples. A systematic review was conducted based on a literature search of relevant databases. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve of the combined studies were estimated. Nine studies with a total of 3920 subjects were considered eligible and included in the meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity was 0.85 (95% CI 0.79-0.90), and the pooled specificity was 0.93 (95% CI 0.82-0.97). The PLR and NLR were 11.51 (95% CI 4.53-29.26) and 0.16 (95% CI 0.11-0.24), respectively. The area under the SROC curve was 0.93 (95% CI 0.91-0.95). Sensitivity analysis showed that the results of this meta-analysis were stable. MALDI-TOF MS could directly identify microorganisms from urine samples with high sensitivity and specificity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Sun ◽  
Jinhua Zhao ◽  
Wenli Qiao ◽  
Taisong Wang

Objective.We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the predictive value of interim18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP chemotherapy.Methods.We searched for articles published in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Wiley, Scopus, and Ovid database from inception to March 2014. Articles related to interim PET/CT in patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP chemotherapy were selected. PFS with or without OS was chosen as the endpoint to evaluate the prognostic significance of interim PET/CT.Results.Six studies with a total of 605 cases were included. The sensitivity of interim PET/CT ranged from 21.2% to 89.7%, and the pooled sensitivity was 52.4%. The specificity of interim PET/CT ranged from 37.4% to 90.7%, and the pooled specificity was 67.8%. The pooled positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 1.780 and 0.706, respectively. The explained AUC was 0.6978 and theQ*was 0.6519.Conclusions.The sensitivity and specificity of interim PET/CT in predicting the outcome of DLBCL patients treated with R-CHOP chemotherapy were not satisfactory (52.4% and 67.8%, resp.). To improve this, some more work should be done to unify the response criteria and some more research to assess the prognostic value of interim PET/CT with semiquantitative analysis.


Author(s):  
Zahra Hadizadeh-Talasaz ◽  
Ali Taghipour ◽  
Seyede Houra Mousavi-Vahed ◽  
Robab Latifnejad Roudsari

Background: For a woman with bleeding and threatened abortion, ultrasound scan is done to confirm the viability of the fetus; however, 10-15% of the embryos are eventually aborted. Distinguishing between women with good and poor prognosis can be a helpful approach. Objective: This study aimed to review the predictive value of Pregnancy-associated Plasma Protein A (PAPP-A) in relation to the diagnosis of fetal loss. Materials and Methods: The articles published in multiple databases including Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Persian databases such as ISC, Magiran, and IranMedx were searched for articles published until May 2019. MeSH terms was used for searching the databases including fetal loss OR pregnancy loss OR abortion OR miscarriage with the following word using AND; Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein- A OR PAPP-A. Two reviewers extracted data and recorded them in a pre-defined form and assessed the quality of articles using the Newcastle-Ottawa tool. Meta-analysis was done using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis/2.0 software and MetaDisc. Results: A total number of 16 studies were eligible for the qualitative data synthesis, out of which 8 studies were included in the meta-analysis. All studies had high and medium quality. The forest plot analysis showed a sensitivity of 57% (95% CI: 53-63%), a specificity of 83% (95% CI: 80-85%), a positive likelihood ratio of 3.52 (95% CI: 2.44- 5.07), a negative likelihood ratio of 0.54 (95% CI: 0.37-0.79), and a diagnostic odds ratio of 6.95 (95% CI: 3.58-13.50). Conclusion: PAPP-A cannot be recommended on a routine basis for predicting fetal loss and still further research with a combination of other biomarkers is required. Key words: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A, Fetal loss, Pregnancy, Systematic review.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingqin Hao ◽  
Yadi Han ◽  
Wei Xia ◽  
Qinghui Wang ◽  
Huizhong Qian

Emerging studies have reported circRNAs were dysregulated in HCC. However, the clinical value of these circRNAs remains to be clarified. Herein, we aimed to comprehensively explore their association with the diagnosis, prognosis, and clinicopathological characteristics of HCC. PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were comprehensively searched for eligible studies up to October 30, 2018. The diagnostic effect was evaluated by the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and other indexes. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) for overall survival (OS) and recurrence free survival (RFS) was calculated to assess the prognostic value. Ten studies on diagnosis, 12 on prognosis, and 23 on clinicopathology were identified from the databases. A total of 11 upregulated and 11 downregulated circRNAs showed an association with clinicopathological features of HCC. For the diagnosis analyses, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of circRNAs for HCC were 0.74 (95%CI: 0.65-0.82) and 0.76 (95%CI: 0.70-0.81), 3.1 (95%CI: 2.5-3.8), 0.34 (95%CI: 0.25-0.47), and 9 (95%CI: 6-14), respectively. The area under SROC curve (AUC) was 0.81 (95% CI: 0.78–0.84), indicating moderate diagnostic accuracy. In stratified analyses, the diagnostic performance of circRNAs varied based on the source of control and specimen type. For the prognosis analyses, increased expression of upregulated circRNAs was associated with worse OS (HR: 3.67, 95%: 2.07-6.48), while high expression of downregulated circRNAs was associated with better OS (HR: 0.38, 95%: 0.30-0.48). In conclusion, this study reveals that circRNAs may serve as promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for HCC. However, further investigations are still required to explore the clinical value of circRNAs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Qi Ni ◽  
Chaoqian Li ◽  
Hua Lin

Objectives. The mortality rate of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is high. Hence, it is crucial to identify a reliable biomarker with wide clinical applications for predicting the prognosis of patients with ARDS. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the value of plasma N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for predicting mortality in patients with ARDS. Methods. An electronic search of databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure was conducted up to May 31, 2019, without language restrictions. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using QUADAS-2. Data were extracted and analyzed to obtain pooled estimates of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio. A forest graph was used to evaluate heterogeneity. Potential causes of heterogeneity were further explored by subgroup analysis based on the testing day, testing method, observation endpoint, or cut-off points. A summary receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn to obtain the pooled area under the curve. Results. A total of 7 studies involving 581 patients with ARDS were included. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were as follows: 0.79 (95% CI: 0.72–0.84), 0.79 (95% CI: 0.66–0.88), 3.68 (95% CI: 2.16–6.28), 0.27 (95% CI: 0.20–0.38), and 13.58 (95% CI: 6.17–29.90), respectively. The results of subgroup analysis showed that the testing day influenced the summary sensitivity and that the cut-off points influenced the summary sensitivity and specificity. Conclusion. Our results indicate that elevated plasma NT-proBNP levels have a moderate value for predicting the mortality of patients with ARDS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Luo ◽  
Ying Xue ◽  
Liyan Mao ◽  
Qun Lin ◽  
Guoxing Tang ◽  
...  

Background: Tuberculous peritonitis (TP) is a common form of abdominal tuberculosis (TB). Diagnosing TP remains challenging in clinical practice. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of peripheral blood (PB) T-SPOT and peritoneal fluid (PF) T-SPOT for diagnosing TP.Methods: PubMed, EmBase, Cochrane, Scopus, Google scholar, China national knowledge internet, and Wan-Fang databases were searched for relevant articles from August 1, 2005 to July 5, 2020. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata, Revman, and Meta-Disc software. Diagnostic parameters including pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were determined. Summary receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the area under the curve (AUC).Results: Twelve studies were eligible and included in the meta-analysis. The analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity and specificity of PB T-SPOT in diagnosing TP were 0.91 (95% CI, 0.88–0.94) and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.73–0.81), respectively, while the pooled PLR, NLR, and DOR were 4.05 (95% CI, 2.73–6.01), 0.13 (95% CI, 0.07–0.23), and 37.8 (95% CI, 15.04–94.98), respectively. On the other hand, the summary estimates of sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, and DOR of PF T-SPOT for TP diagnosis were 0.90 (95% CI, 0.85–0.94), 0.78 (95% CI, 0.72–0.83), 6.35 (95% CI, 2.67–15.07), 0.14 (95% CI, 0.09–0.21), and 58.22 (95% CI, 28.76–117.83), respectively. Furthermore, the AUC of PB T-SPOT and PF T-SPOT for TP diagnosis were 0.91 and 0.94, respectively.Conclusions: Our results indicate that both PB T-SPOT and PF T-SPOT can be served as sensitive approaches for the diagnosis of TP. However, the unsatisfactory specificities of these two methods limit their application as rule-in tests for TP diagnosis. Furthermore, the standardization of the operating procedure of PF T-SPOT is further needed.


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