Elastography for the differential diagnosis of malignant versus benign testicular lesions: a meta-analysis

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of elastography in the differential diagnosis of benign versus malignant testicular lesions. Methods: The PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases were searched for relevant studies. The diagnostic accuracy of elastography was evaluated using pooled sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio, post-test probability, diagnostic odds ratio, and by summarizing the area under the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curve. Results: Seven studies with 568 lesions were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 87% (95% confidence interval [CI], 81% to 92%) and 81% (95% CI, 65% to 90%), respectively. The pooled estimates of the positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were 4.48 (95% CI, 2.37 to 8.47), 0.16 (95% CI, 0.10 to 0.25), and 28.11 (95% CI, 11.39 to 69.36), respectively. The area under the HSROC curve was 90% (95% CI, 88% to 93%). Conclusion: Elastography is useful for assessing the stiffness of testicular lesions and for differentiating benign from malignant lesions. Elastography can be an effective supplement to conventional ultrasonography.

Automated summary

This study demonstrated that elastography has high diagnostic accuracy in differentiating benign from malignant testicular lesions, making it an effective supplement to conventional ultrasonography.