2. Heterogeneity and sensitivity analyses for computed tomography.
| Subgroup | No of studies | Sensitivity (95% CI) | Specificity (95% CI) | P value |
| All | 21 | 77.5% (70.9% to 82.9%) | 91.3% (86.5% to 94.5%) | ‐ |
| Positivity criteria clearly defined | 19 | 78.3% (72.0% to 83.6%) | 90.7% (85.7% to 94.1%) | ‐ |
| Reference standard blinded | 9 | 77.5% (68.8% to 84.3%) | 91.0% (83.4% to 95.4%) | ‐ |
| Low concern for applicability | 3 | 76.9% (50.8% to 91.5%) | 89.2% (57.0% to 98.1%) | ‐ |
| Before 2005 | 10 | 71.4% (60.5% to 80.3%) | 93.6% (87.7% to 96.7%) | 0.340 |
| After 2005 | 11 | 80.5% (72.3% to 86.7%) | 88.7% (81.1% to 93.5%) | |
| Cirrhosis > 90% | 16 | 75.5% (66.2% to 82.8%) | 93.5% (89.0% to 96.2%) | 0.225 |
| Cirrhosis < 90% | 4 | 85.2% (80.8% to 88.7%) | 81.5% (73.3% to 87.5%) | |
| Europe | 10 | 74.3% (59.7% to 85.0%) | 90.5% (80.8% to 95.6%) | 0.622 |
| North and South America | 7 | 75.0% (65.7% to 82.4%) | 93.7% (87.4% to 96.9%) | |
| Asia | 4 | 85.5% (81.7% to 88.7%) | 85.7% (75.1% to 92.3%) | |
| HCC prevalence ≥ 52% | 11 | 81.0% (72.5% to 87.4%) | 85.5% (78.4% to 90.5%) | 0.051 |
| HCC prevalence < 52% | 10 | 71.1% (60.7% to 79.7%) | 94.0% (89.8% to 96.5%) | |
| Clinically suspect | 19 | 78.5% (72.7% to 83.3%) | 90.2% (84.9% to 93.8%) | 0.333 |
| Surveillance | 2 | 72.3% (29.4% to 94.2%) | 97.3% (88.7% to 99.4%) | |
| HCC resectable 100% | 10 | 71.4% (60.3% to 80.4%) | 92.0% (86.3% to 95.5%) | ‐ |
| HCC resectable < 20% | 2 | 75.6% (55.0% to 88.8%) | 78.3% (42.6% to 94.6%) | 0.116 |
| HCC resectable ≥ 20% | 14 | 73.3% (65.0% to 80.2%) | 93.2% (87.8% to 96.3%) | |
| HCC resectable < 90% | 4 | 76.2% (63.2% to 85.6%) | 82.4% (61.9% to 93.1%) | 0.081 |
| HCC resectable ≥ 90% | 12 | 72.5% (63.2% to 80.1%) | 93.9% (88.7% to 96.9%) | |
| Biopsy | 8 | 82.9% (69.7% ‐ 91.2%) | 90.8% (82.8% ‐ 95.3%) | 0.119 |
| OLT | 11 | 78.8% (73.6% ‐ 83.2%) | 93.2% (88.7% ‐ 96.0%) | |
| Mixed | 2 | 61.9% (49.4% ‐ 73.0%) | 64.0% (44.0% ‐ 80.1%) | |
| Viral < 80%a | 15 | 81.1% (75.5% to 85.7%) | 92.4% (87.5% to 95.4%) | 0.332 |
| Viral ≥ 80%a | 3 | 62.8% (44.6% to 78.0%) | 93.9% (48.2% to 99.6%) | |
| Prior detection of nodules: no | 13 | 79.3% (74.4% to 83.6%) | 92.5% (87.6% to 95.6%) | 0.797 |
| Prior detection of nodules: yes | 8 | 80.9% (67.5% to 89.6%) | 88.6% (78.9% to 94.2%) | |
| CI: confidence interval; HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma; OLT: orthotopic liver transplantation; | ||||
aData not reported in three studies.