title: Ultrasonography for diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome: a meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy.
abstract: Ultrasonography is widely used to diagnose carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a common peripheral neuropathy, but the reported diagnostic accuracy varies. This meta-analysis focused on the diagnostic test accuracy of ultrasonography for diagnosing CTS. Structured searches of PubMed for 1990-2010 were done and the data were extracted and meta-analyzed by pooling estimates of sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios and diagnostic odds ratios. Diagnostic performance was also judged by using a summary receiver operating characteristic curve. Twenty-eight trials involving 3995 wrists were included. A greater cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel inlet (CSA-I) and a greater flattening ratio at the level of the hamate were seen in CTS wrists than in control wrists. A CSA-I ≥9 mm(2) is the best single diagnostic criterion, with a diagnostic odds ratio of 40.4 (sensitivity 87.3%, specificity 83.3%).
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ta-Wei
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Cheng-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Fong-Chin
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Tai-Chang
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Chern
authors.forename: I-Ming
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Jou
mesh_terms: D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*