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Comparison of methods for the diagnosis of patent foramen ovale in patients with cryptogenic cerebral ischemia: a meta-analysis
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  • Xiaoxuan Guo,
  • Xiaojuan Wang,
  • Lu Zhang,
  • Yan Zhang,
  • Rui Peng,
  • Haiye Gao,
  • aiyun Deng
Xiaoxuan Guo

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Xiaojuan Wang
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aiyun Deng
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Abstract

Background: Foramen ovale is a residual cavity in the developing heart in the fetus. At present, the standard methods for the diagnosis of PFO-right-to-left-shunting (PFO-RLS) include transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), contrast-transcranial Doppler echocardiography (C-TCD), and contrast-transthoracic echocardiography (C-TTE), each of them having its advantages and disadvantages.However, there are no data allowing the comparison of these three methods. Methods: We systematically reviewed all published studies on patients with cryptogenic cerebral ischemia. The sensitivity, specificity, and other indexes of C-TCD and C-TTE in the diagnosis of PFO-RLS were calculated using the Stata 16.0 software. The area under the summary receiver operating curve(SROC) was calculated. Results: Twenty-five 25 controlled studies involving a total of 2282 patients were analyzed. There was considerable heterogeneity between C-TCD and C-TTE sensitivity and specificity among the studies. The combined sensitivity and specificity of C-TCD and C-TTE were 0.95 (95%CI, 0.93-0.97) and 0.86(95%CI, 0.78-0.91), and 0.88 (95%CI, 0.69-0.96) and 0.99 (95%CI, 0.67-1.00). The positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio of C-TCD and C-TTE were 6.81 (95%CI, 4.42-10.48) and 0.05 (95%CI, 0.03-0.08), and 82.31(95%CI, 2.03-3341.00) and 0.12 (95%CI, 0.04-0.34). The areas under the SROC for C-TCD and C-TTE were 0.97 (95%CI, 0.95–0.98) and 0.98 (95%CI, 0.96–0.99), respectively, and were not significantly different by the Z test (z=-0.17, p=0.86). Conclusion: C-TCD and C-TTE have advantages in diagnosing PFO-RTL. The combination of C-TCD and C-TTE improves the detection rate and reduces the misdiagnosis rate. Key words: patent foramen ovale, cryptogenic cerebral ischemia, contrast-transthoracic echocardiography, contrast-transthoracic echocardiography