ObjectiveTo systematically review the clinical effectiveness and safety of middle and low-dose gamma globulin for severe idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpurar (ITP). MethodsDatabases such as The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2013), PubMed, EMbase, CBM, CNKI and WanFang Data were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving the effectiveness and safety of middle and low-dose gamma globulin for severe ITP from the date of their establishment to July 2013. Two reviewers independently screened studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and evaluated the methodological quality of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsEleven RCTs involving 548 patients were included. The trial group (n=272) were treated with middle and low dose of gamma globulin, while the control group (n=276) were treated with high dose of gamma globulin. The results of meta-analyses showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups in the total effective rate (RR=0.95, 95%CI 0.87 to 1.04, P=0.30), overall response rate (RR=0.97, 95%CI 0.85 to 1.10, P=0.60) and excellence rate (RR=0.94, 95%CI 0.78 to 1.14, P=0.54). The outcomes of time effect such as the time of platelet starting to rise and haemostasis time between the two groups was similar without significant differences. However, the control group was superior to the trial group in the peak time of platelet. The results of meta-analysis for platelet count of different periods showed that no significant differences were found in platelet count of 3, 7, and 14 days after starting the treatment, so do the peak of platelet count. No severe side effects were reported by both groups. ConclusionMiddle and low-dose gamma globulin could achieve the similar effect with the high-dose gamma globulin in the treatment of ITP. However, more high-quality, large-scale, RCTs are required to validate these results.
ObjectivesTo systematically review serum a-L Fucose Gan Enzyme (AFU) combined with serum Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) in the diagnosis of primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC). MethodsWe comprehensively searched databases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2013), WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, CNKI, EMbase, and Medalink for relevant studies on AFU combined with AFP in the diagnosis of PHC from inception to July 2013; meanwhile, manual search for the relevant Chinese journals were also performed. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using Meta-DiSc 1.4 software. ResultsA total of 20 studies involving 1 350 cases and 2 079 controls were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood radio, negative likelihood radio, diagnostic odds ratio, the area under SROC curve and Q index were:a) detection of AFU alone:0.76 (0.74, 0.78), 0.83 (0.82, 0.85), 7.09 (4.34, 11.58), 0.29 (0.23, 0.37), 26.88 (15.04, 48.06), 0.872 6 and 0.803, respectively; b) detection of AFP alone:0.69 (0.67, 0.72), 0.88 (0.86, 0.89), 7.85 (5.35, 11.50), 0.35 (0.30, 0.42), 25.62 (16.35, 40.15), 0.805 4 and 0.740 6, respectively; and c) combined detection of AFU and AFP:0.85 (0.83, 0.87), 0.86 (0.85, 0.88), 7.16 (5.15, 9.96), 0.15 (0.10, 0.23), 54.07 (29.85, 97.95), 0.940 8 and 0.878 5, respectively. ConclusionThe combination detection of AFU and AFP has good efficacy in the diagnosis of PHC.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the clinical value of the contrast-enhanced ultrasonic in the diagnosis of breast tumors. MethodsWe electronically and comprehensively searched the databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2013), PubMed, CNKI, WanFang Data, Chaoxing medalink, VIP, and CBM for clinical research reports of diagnosing breast cancer with Contrast-enhance ultrasonic (all from foundation to May 2013). Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies according to the QUADAS items. The Meta-DiSc software (version 1.4) was used to conduct pooling on sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio. Heterogeneity test was performed and the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was drawn for area under the curve (AUC). ResultsA total of 19 studies involving 1 161 participants were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, specificity, the pooled sensitivity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and DOR were 0.79 (95%CI 0.75 to 0.82), 0.86 (95%CI 0.83 to 0.89), 3.92 (95%CI 2.77 to 6.56), 0.18 (95%CI 0.13 to 0.26), and 25.86 (95%CI 13.77 to 48.55), respectively. The AUC of the SROC curve was 0.917 0. ConclusionThe current evidence shows that contrast-enhanced ultrasonic has high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of preoperative benign and malignant breast mass, which indicates that it could be used as a good method to diagnosing breast tumors.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the clinical value of ultrasonographic elastography (UE) for the differential diagnosis of benign/malignant thyroid nodules. MethodsWe comprehensively searched the databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue2, 2013), PubMed, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data, Medalink, VIP and CBM from inception to the December of 2013, for including clinical research reports of determining thyroid nodules using ultrasonographic elastography. Literature screening according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction and methodological quality assessment were completed by two reviewers independently. Then Meta-DiSc software (version 1.4) was used for pooling analysis. ResultsA total of 35 studies including 4 127 patients were included. The results of metaanalysis showed that, specificity, sensitivity, positive likelihood radio, negative likelihood radio and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were 0.89 (0.88 to 0.90), 0.88 (0.86 to 0.90), 6.37 (5.44 to7.47), 0.13 (0.11 to 0.16) and 58.72 (43.12 to 79.98), respectively; and the area under SROC curve (AUC) was 0.936 9. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that ultrasonographic elastography has fairly high sensitivity (88%) and specificity (89%) in differential diagnosis of benign/malignant thyroid nodules. The positive rate in the malignant thyroid group is 58.72 times higher that in benign thyroid cancer with better efficacy in differential diagnosis, so ultrasonographic elastography is of effective and feasible diagnostic value for thyroid benign/malignant nodules.