International journal of clinical practice
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Int. J. Clin. Pract. · Sep 2014
Review Meta AnalysisDiagnostic accuracy of non-radiologist performed ultrasound for abdominal aortic aneurysm: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Ultrasonography is increasingly used by clinicians to identify abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the accuracy of non-radiologist performed ultrasound (NRPUS) for AAA disease to the 'gold standard' of radiologist performed aortic imaging (RPI), intra-operative findings or postmortem findings. ⋯ Non-radiologist performed ultrasound achieves acceptable sensitivity and specificity for both detection and measurement of AAA. There was no evidence of significant heterogeneity with respect to pooled sensitivity or specificity.