Rationale and Objectives
Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is used to diagnose artery stenosis after kidney
transplant. However, there is a lack of applicable consensus guidelines, and the diagnostic
value of this technique is unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to
evaluate the diagnostic performance of MRA for the detection of artery stenosis after
kidney transplant.
Materials and Methods
We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase from database inception
to September 1, 2022. Two independent reviewers assessed the methodological quality
of eligible studies using the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies-2
tool. The diagnostic odds ratio, pooled sensitivity, and specificity values, positive
likelihood ratios, and negative likelihood ratios were calculated to synthesize data
with a bivariate random-effects model. Meta-regression analysis was performed in cases
of high among-study heterogeneity.
Results
Eleven studies were included in the meta-analysis. The area under the summary receiver
operating characteristic curve was 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94–0.98).
The pooled sensitivity and specificity values for MRA in diagnosing artery stenosis
after kidney transplant were 0.96 (95% CI: 0.76–0.99) and 0.93 (95% CI: 0.86–0.96),
respectively.
Conclusion
MRA demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing artery stenosis after
kidney transplant, suggesting that it may be used reliably in clinical practice. However,
further large-scale studies are required to validate the present findings.
Key Words
Abbreviations:
MRA (Magnetic resonance angiography), CE-MRA (Contrast-enhanced MRA), NCE-MRA (Non-contrast-enhanced MRA), TRAS (Transplant renal artery stenosis), TP (True positive), FP (False positive), TN (True negative), FN (False negative), SROC (Summary receiver operating characteristic), DSA (Digital subtraction angiography), PRISMA-DTA (The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analysis Statement of Diagnostic Test Accuracy), QUADAS-2 (Quality assessment was based on Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2), TOF (Time of flight), Gd (Gadolinium), CTA (Computed tomography angiography)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 17, 2023
Accepted:
February 27,
2023
Received in revised form:
February 27,
2023
Received:
November 15,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
