Table 1.
Characteristics of studies included in this meta-analysis for EUS without FNA
| Author | Year of publication | No. of patients | Type of recruitment | Confirmatory procedure |
| Tio et al[71] | 1986 | 26 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Murata et al[57] | 1988 | 173 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Tio et al[69] | 1989 | 75 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Vilgrain et al[75] | 1990 | 51 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Tio et al[68] | 1990 | 102 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Rice et al[63] | 1991 | 22 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Heintz et al[52] | 1991 | 40 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Botet et al[40] | 1991 | 50 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Tio et al[70] | 1989 | 74 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Ziegler et al[80] | 1991 | 52 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Rosch et al[64] | 1992 | 44 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Fok et al[46] | 1992 | 54 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Yoshikane et al[79] | 1993 | 28 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Grimm et al[49] | 1993 | 63 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Dittler et al[45] | 1993 | 167 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Peters et al[61] | 1994 | 42 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Catalano et al[43] | 1994 | 100 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| McLoughlin et al[18] | 1995 | 15 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Binmoeller et al[39] | 1995 | 87 | Prospective | Surgery |
| HunerBein et al[53] | 1996 | 19 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Hasegawa et al[50] | 1996 | 22 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Francois et al[47] | 1996 | 29 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Natsugoe et al[58] | 1996 | 37 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Milena et al[54] | 1997 | 40 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Vikers et al[73] | 1997 | 50 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Shimizu et al[67] | 1997 | 431 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Pham et al[62] | 1998 | 28 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Vikers et al[74] | 1998 | 50 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Salminen et al[65] | 1999 | 32 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Krasna et al[56] | 1999 | 88 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Browrey et al[41] | 1999 | 98 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Catalano et al[42] | 1999 | 149 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Giovannini et al[48] | 1999 | 198 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Nishimaki et al[60] | 1999 | 224 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Heidemann et al[51] | 2000 | 68 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Nesje et al[59] | 2000 | 68 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Vazquez-Sequeiros et al[105] | 2001 | 37 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Wiersema et al[77] | 2001 | 82 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Wakelin et al[76] | 2002 | 36 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Kienle et al[55] | 2002 | 117 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Schwartz et al[66] | 2002 | 188 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| Wu et al[78] | 2003 | 31 | Prospective | Surgery |
| Arima et al[17] | 2003 | 58 | Consecutive | Surgery |
| DeWitt et al[44] | 2005 | 102 | Prospective | Surgery |