Table 4.

Subgroup Analyses Based on Study Design Biases and Characteristics of Methodological Study Design and Text Execution

Characteristic	No. Studies	Sn, % (95% CI)	p value	Sp, % (95% CI)	p value
Biases
Spectrum Bias
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Only symptomatic patients†	11	88 (82–95)	0.82	94 (90–98)	0.09
Only asymptomatic patients	3	76 (56–96)		68 (41–95)
Partial Verification Bias
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Partial verification bias	9	89 (83–96)	0.13	91 (84–98)	0.40
No partial verification bias	9	85 (77–93)		88 (79–97)
Uninterpretable results reported	12	88 (82–94)	0.09	92 (87–98)	0.97
Uninterpretable results not reported	6	86 (76–95)		84 (70–98)
Ultrasound
Partial verification bias	5	61 (48–74)	0.41	67 (55–79)	<0.001*
No partial verification bias	8	61 (51–70)		81 (74–88)
Uninterpretable results reported	6	61 (49–73)	0.39	83 (75–91)	0.56
Uninterpretable results not reported	7	61 (51–71)		70 (60–81)
Methodological Study Design
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Retrospective	4	88 (79–97)	0.11	93 (85–100)	0.87
Prospective	14	87 (80–93)		89 (82–96)
Nonconsecutive †	12	83 (76–91)	0.21	89 (82–96)	0.23
Consecutive	2	90 (77–100)		70 (35–100)
Test Execution
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Undefined reference test criteria	8	88 (80–96)	0.05	90 (82–99)	0.28
Defined reference test criteria	10	87 (80–93)		90 (82–97)
Undefined index test criteria	3	88 (79–100)	0.45	86 (68–100)	0.43
Defined index test criteria	15	86 (81–92)		90 (85–96)
Ultrasound
Undefined reference test criteria	6	61 (50–73)	0.42	76 (82–99)	0.09
Defined reference test criteria	7	60 (50–71)		77 (67–87)
Undefined index test criteria	2	65 (79–100)	0.76	83 (68–98)	0.75
Defined index test criteria	11	60 (52–68)		75 (66–83)

Abbreviations: Sn, Sensitivity; Sp, Specificity

^†Studies designated as unclear were not included in the individual subgroup analyses.

^*Denotes p<0.001