title: Meta-analysis of 18FDG PET-CT for nodal staging in patients with esophageal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We aimed to evaluate the value of (18)FDG PET-CT for detection of regional nodal metastasis in patients with esophageal cancer before surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A computer search about PET-CT original articles was conducted from January 2000 to December 2012. The reference standard was histopathologic analysis. Two reviewers independently searched articles and extracted data. Sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, and likelihood ratio were pooled for PET-CT using bivariate models. Summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves were also used to summarize overall test performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Across all seven studies on a per-station analysis (2232 stations), the pooled sensitivity and speciﬁcity with 95% confidence interval for PET-CT were 0.62 (0.40-0.79) and 0.96 (0.93-0.98). Across all 6 studies on a per-patient analysis (245 patients), corresponding values for PET-CT were 0.55 (0.34-0.74) and 0.76 (0.66-0.83).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  (18)FDG PET-CT had lower sensitivity and accuracy for detection of regional nodal metastasis in patients with esophageal cancer before surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, the third People's hospital, Yancheng, 224001, China.
authors.forename: Woda
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Wencai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongchun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huo
mesh_terms: D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18