Vasculitis & polymyalgia rheumatica
Accuracy of the intima-media thickness by ultrasound for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis: a systematic review
Authors' conclusion
The seven studies had considerable drawbacks due to biases across several domains.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with suspected GCA7 studies
- Comparison
- Quantitative intima-media thickness (IMT) measurement by ultrasound (US) vs qualitative judgement of the respective segments by US or MRI
- Outcome
- Diagnostic accuracy of quantitative IMT measurement by US for GCA
Methodological detailsQUADAS-2 quality assessment, 2786 records screened; last search June 3, 2024
- QUADAS-2 quality assessment
- 2786 records screened; last search June 3, 2024
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Diagnostic accuracy of IMT vs qualitative US or MRI judgement
Sensitivities
76 to 100 %
Specificities
85.7 to 100 %
Proposed IMT cut-offs, temporal artery
between 0.4 and 0.44 mm
Proposed IMT cut-offs, axillary artery
0.81 and 1.2 mm
Further pooled results
- All studies have a high risk of bias in at least two QUADAS-2 domains (patient selection, lack of US blinding, index test part of reference standard)
Original publication
Accuracy of the intima-media thickness by ultrasound for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis: a systematic review. Semin Arthritis Rheum. Published 10 April 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →