Antibiotic treatment for ocular toxoplasmosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis: study protocol

IntroductionThe use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support the diagnosis of acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) could improve patient outcomes and facilitate accurate tissue and vessel assessment. However, the evidence in published AI studies is inadequate and difficult to interpret which reduces the accountability of the diagnostic results in clinical settings. This study protocol describes a rigorous systematic review of the accuracy of AI in the diagnosis of AIS and detection of large-vessel occlusions (LVOs).Methods and analysisWe will perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the performance of AI models for diagnosing AIS and detecting LVOs. We will adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Protocols guidelines. Literature searches will be conducted in eight databases. For data screening and extraction, two reviewers will use a modified Critical Appraisal and Data Extraction for Systematic Reviews of Prediction Modelling Studies checklist. We will assess the included studies using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies guidelines. We will conduct a meta-analysis if sufficient data are available. We will use hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curves to estimate the summary operating points, including the pooled sensitivity and specificity, with 95% CIs, if pooling is appropriate. Furthermore, if sufficient data are available, we will use Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations profiler software to summarise the main findings of the systematic review, as a summary of results.Ethics and disseminationThere are no ethical considerations associated with this study protocol, as the systematic review focuses on the examination of secondary data. The systematic review results will be used to report on the accuracy, completeness and standard procedures of the included studies. We will disseminate our findings by publishing our analysis in a peer-reviewed journal and, if required, we will communicate with the stakeholders of the studies and bibliographic databases.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020179652.

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The association between vitamin D and acute rejection in human kidney transplantation: A systematic review and meta-analysis study

Transplant Immunology ◽

10.1016/j.trim.2021.101410 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 101410

Author(s):

Mohammad Mirzakhani ◽

Sheyda Mohammadkhani ◽

Shirin Hekmatirad ◽

Soudabeh Aghapour ◽

Negar Gorjizadeh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Vitamin D ◽

Kidney Transplantation ◽

Acute Rejection ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Human Kidney ◽

Analysis Study

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Predictive Performance of Serum S100B Versus LDH in Melanoma Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Frontiers in Oncology ◽

10.3389/fonc.2021.772165 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Eszter Anna Janka ◽

Tünde Várvölgyi ◽

Zoltán Sipos ◽

Alexandra Soós ◽

Péter Hegyi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Study Protocol ◽

Systematic Reviews ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Elevated Serum ◽

Predictive Performance ◽

Discriminative Ability ◽

Serum S100b ◽

Risk Of Death ◽

Melanoma Patients

BackgroundCurrently, no consensus on the use of blood tests for monitoring disease recurrence in patients with resected melanoma exists. The only meta-analysis conducted in 2008 found that elevated serum S100B levels were associated with significantly worse survival in melanoma patients. Serum LDH is an established prognostic factor in patients with advanced melanoma.ObjectiveTo compare the discriminative and prognostic ability of serum S100B with that of serum LDH in patients with melanoma.MethodsThis systematic review and meta-analysis were reported in accordance with the PRISMA Statement. The study protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; CRD42019137138).ResultsA quantitative analysis of data from 6 eligible studies included 1,033 patients with cutaneous melanoma. The discriminative ability of serum S100B at identifying disease relapse [pooled Area Under the ROC (AUROC) 78.64 (95% CI 70.28; 87.01)] was significantly greater than the discriminative ability of serum LDH [AUROC 64.41 (95% CI 56.05; 7278)] (p=0.013). Ten eligible studies with 1,987 patients were included in the risk of death analysis. The prognostic performance of serum S100B [pooled estimate of adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.78 (95% CI 1.38; 2.29)] was independent but not superior to that of serum LDH [HR 1.60 (95% CI 1.36; 2.29)].LimitationsA relatively small number of articles were eligible and there was considerable heterogeneity across the included studies.ConclusionsSerum biomarkers may provide relevant information on melanoma patient status and should be further researched. Serum S100B is a valid marker for diagnosis of melanoma recurrence.Systematic Review RegistrationThe study protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; CRD42019137138).

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