scholarly journals Cardiac Computed Tomography Versus Transesophageal Echocardiography for the Detection of Left Atrial Appendage Thrombus: A Systemic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Author(s):  
Shandong Yu ◽  
Heping Zhang ◽  
Hongwei Li

Background Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has been considered the gold standard for left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombus detection. Nevertheless, TEE may sometimes induce discomfort and cause complications. Cardiac computed tomography has been studied extensively for LAA thrombus detection. We performed this systemic review and meta‐analysis to assess the diagnostic accuracy of cardiac computed tomography for LAA thrombus detection compared with TEE. Methods and Results A systemic search was conducted in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases from January 1977 to February 2021. Studies performed for assessment diagnostic accuracy of cardiac computed tomography on LAA thrombus compared with TEE were included. Summary sensitivity, specificity, and posterior probability of LAA thrombus was calculated by using bivariate random‐effects model. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies‐2 tool was used for the quality assessment. A total of 27 studies involving 6960 patients were included in our study. The summary sensitivity of early imaging studies was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.79–0.99), and the specificity was 0.89 (95% CI, 0.85–0.92). The positive posterior probability was 19.11%, and the negative posterior probability was 0.16%. The summary sensitivity of delayed imaging studies was 0.98 (95% CI, 0.92–1.00), and the specificity was 1.00 (95% CI, 0.98–1.00). The positive posterior probability was 95.76%, and the negative posterior probability was 0.12%. The delayed imaging method significantly improved the specificity (1.00 versus 0.89; P <0.05) and positive posterior probability (95.76% versus 19.11%; P <0.05). Conclusions Cardiac computed tomography with a delayed imaging is a reliable alternative to TEE. It may save the patient and health care from an excess TEE. Registration URL: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO ; Unique identifier: CRD42021236352.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 1852-1853
Author(s):  
Mahdi Veillet-Chowdhury ◽  
Stewart M. Benton ◽  
C. Anwar A. Chahal ◽  
James E. Harvey ◽  
Paul Tolerico ◽  
...  

2022 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqin Jing ◽  
Yanchun Song

Objective: To investigate the comparative diagnostic accuracy of cardiac computed tomography (CT) and transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for detecting infective endocarditis. Methods: Original publications published in English language before July, 2021 were thoroughly search in PubMed, CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), and Google Scholar literature databases. Studies were included if they used CT and/or TEE as an index test, presented data on valvular complications related to infective endocarditis, and used surgical findings as to the reference standard. Results:­­­ Literature screening identified fifteen studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that CT sensitivity for detecting valvular abscesses was higher than that of TEE [0.88 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.82 to 0.94; 11 studies involving 842 subjects) versus 0.74 (95% CI: 0.65 to 0.84) P = 0.015; 12 studies involving 917 subjects]. TEE showed statistically significantly greater sensitivity than CT for detecting valvular vegetation [0.91 (95% CI: 0.84 to 0.97, 11 studies involving 971 subjects) versus 0.80 (95% CI: 0.69 to 0.82), 12 studies involving 915 subjects, P =0.019. In case of leaflet detection, TEE showed statistically significantly higher sensitivity than CT (0.76 vs 0.46, P =0.010). Conclusion: CT performs statistically significantly better than TEE for detecting abscesses while TEE provides statistically significant superior results for detecting vegetation. There is a need for well-designed prospective studies to further corroborate these findings. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.3.5139 How to cite this:Jing L, Song Y. Comparing the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography vs transoesophageal echocardiography for infective endocarditis − A meta-analysis . Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(3):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.3.5139 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-85
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Osawa ◽  
Rine Nakanishi ◽  
Indre Ceponiene ◽  
Negin Nezarat ◽  
William J. French ◽  
...  

Assessing thromboembolic risk is crucial for proper management of patients with atrial fibrillation. Left atrial volume is a promising predictor of cardiac thrombosis. To determine whether left atrial volume can predict left atrial appendage thrombus in patients with atrial fibrillation, we conducted a prospective study of 73 patients. Left atrial and ventricular volumes were evaluated by cardiac computed tomography with retrospective electrocardiographic gating and then indexed to body surface area. Left atrial appendage thrombus was confirmed or excluded by cardiac computed tomography with delayed enhancement. Seven patients (9.6%) had left atrial appendage thrombus; 66 (90.4%) did not. Those with thrombus had a significantly higher mean left atrial end-systolic volume index (139 ± 55 vs 101 ± 35 mL/m2; P =0.0097) and mean left atrial end-diastolic volume index (122 ± 45 vs 84 ± 34 mL/m2; P =0.0077). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, left atrial end-systolic volume index (per 10 mL/m2 increase) was significantly associated with left atrial appendage thrombus (odds ratio [OR]=1.24; 95% CI, 1.03–1.50; P =0.02); so too was the left atrial end-diastolic volume index (per 10 mL/m2 increase) (OR=1.29; 95% CI, 1.05–1.60; P =0.02). These findings suggest that increased left atrial volume increases the risk of left atrial appendage thrombus. Therefore, patients with atrial fibrillation and an enlarged left atrium should be considered for cardiac computed tomography with delayed enhancement to confirm whether thrombus is present.


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