title: Potential role of fractional anisotropy derived from diffusion tensor imaging in differentiating high-grade gliomas from low-grade gliomas: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is crucial to accurately differentiate high-grade gliomas (HGGs) from low-grade gliomas (LGGs) preoperatively, as treatment strategies vary. So we performed a meta-analysis to assess the sensitivity and specificity of fractional anisotropy (FA) value derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in differentiating HGGs from LGGs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 2005 and June 2014, relevant articles were searched from the Embase and Medline databases for analysis. Statistical analyses were performed using Meta-Disc 1.4.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 221 patients included in the FA analysis: 127 with HGGs and 94 LGGs. The pooled sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) for differentiating HGGs from LGGs were 93% (95% CI 0.87-0.97), 85% (95% CI 0.76-0.92), and 55.41 (95% CI 16.77-183.07), respectively. And computation of heterogeneity metrics revealed an acceptable level of the between-study heterogeneity of DOR (I(2)=30.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our meta-analysis present that the FA derived from DTI act as a useful diagnostic marker could be used in distinguishing the HGGs from LGGs in the preoperative and the clinical application values are to be confirmed by further larger case-control studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Chengdu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ruofei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Chengdu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Chengdu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Mao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Chengdu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Chengdu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jiewen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Chengdu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Chengdu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yanhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging; fractional anisotropy; high grade gliomas; low grade gliomas