Accuracy of imaging technologies in the diagnosis of acute cardiac ischemia in the emergency department: a meta-analysis

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

Authors

Ioannidis, J. P.
Salem, D.
Chew, P. W.
Lau, J.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Type of the conference item

Journal type

peer-reviewed

Educational material type

Conference Name

Journal name

Ann Emerg Med

Book name

Book series

Book edition

Alternative title / Subtitle

Description

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We sought to quantitatively evaluate the evidence on the diagnostic performance of imaging technologies (including rest and stress echocardiography and technetium-99m sestamibi scanning) for the diagnosis of acute cardiac ischemia and acute myocardial infarction in the emergency department. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the English-language literature published between 1966 and December 1998. Both prospective and retrospective studies qualified for the assessment of diagnostic performance. Diagnostic performance was assessed by means of random-effect estimates of test sensitivity, specificity, and the diagnostic odds ratio and was summarized by using summary receiver-operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: Diagnostic accuracy was evaluated in 10 studies of rest echocardiography, 2 studies of dobutamine stress echocardiography, and 6 studies of technetium-99m sestamibi scanning. However, only 3 rest echocardiography and 5 technetium-99m sestamibi studies evaluated patients strictly in the ED setting. Patient populations were often highly selected to represent low- or moderate-risk groups. When limited to ED studies, rest echocardiography showed excellent sensitivity of 93% (95% CI, 81% to 97%) and good specificity of 66% (95% CI, 43% to 83%). The results were similar when all studies were considered, including data from reports of admitted patients and patients sent to the cardiac care unit. There was insufficient literature on stress echocardiography in the ED to properly assess the technology. Technetium-99m sestamibi scanning also showed excellent sensitivity (range, 91.5% to 100%) and good specificity (range, 49.3% to 84.4%) for acute myocardial infarction; for acute cardiac ischemia, the random-effects pooled sensitivity was 89% (95% CI, 73% to 96%), and the pooled specificity was 77% (95% CI, 63% to 87%). CONCLUSION: For selected low- and moderate-risk patient groups, echocardiography and technetium-99m sestamibi imaging appear to have very good diagnostic performance with a similar sensitivity and specificity profile. More evidence should be accumulated on their performance specifically in the ED setting.

Description

Keywords

Acute Disease, Bias (Epidemiology), Diagnostic Imaging/*methods/*standards, Echocardiography/standards, Emergency Treatment/*methods/*standards, Evidence-Based Medicine, Exercise Test/standards, Humans, Myocardial Infarction/*diagnosis/epidemiology, Myocardial Ischemia/*diagnosis/epidemiology, Odds Ratio, Prevalence, Prospective Studies, Reproducibility of Results, Research Design, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Sensitivity and Specificity, Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi/diagnostic use, *Technology Assessment, Biomedical

Subject classification

Citation

Link

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11326183
http://ac.els-cdn.com/S019606440111053X/1-s2.0-S019606440111053X-main.pdf?_tid=b76b9a82fc4328727ca58518830f36a6&acdnat=1333364618_ecd6b0bdea1131393449c8d37ca78cd5

Language

en

Publishing department/division

Advisor name

Examining committee

General Description / Additional Comments

Institution and School/Department of submitter

Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων. Σχολή Επιστημών Υγείας. Τμήμα Ιατρικής

Table of contents

Sponsor

Bibliographic citation

Name(s) of contributor(s)

Number of Pages

Course details

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Referenced By