Elastography for the differential diagnosis of malignant versus benign testicular lesions: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of elastography in the differential diagnosis of benign versus malignant testicular lesions.Methods: The PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases were searched for relevant studies. The diagnostic accuracy of elastography was evaluated using pooled sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio, post-test probability, diagnostic odds ratio, and by summarizing the area under the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curve.Results: Seven studies with 568 lesions were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 87% (95% confidence interval [CI], 81% to 92%) and 81% (95% CI, 65% to 90%), respectively. The pooled estimates of the positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were 4.48 (95% CI, 2.37 to 8.47), 0.16 (95% CI, 0.10 to 0.25), and 28.11 (95% CI, 11.39 to 69.36), respectively. The area under the HSROC curve was 90% (95% CI, 88% to 93%).Conclusion: Elastography is useful for assessing the stiffness of testicular lesions and for differentiating benign from malignant lesions. Elastography can be an effective supplement to conventional ultrasonography.