Different imaging techniques for the detection of pelvic lymph nodes metastasis from gynecological malignancies: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of different imaging techniques and the corresponding diagnostic criteria for preoperative detection of pelvic lymph node metastasis from gynecological carcinomas. METHODS: Six databases were systematically searched for retrieving eligible studies. Study inclusion, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were performed by 2 reviewers independently. STATA 14.0 was used to perform the meta-analysis. Results: Eighty eligible studies were collected. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under curve (AUC) of CT, MRI and DWI were 47%, 93%, 0.7424; 50%, 95%, 0.8039 and 84%, 95%, 0.9523 respectively. As regards PET, PET-CT and US, the pooled sensitivity, specificity and AUC were 56%, 97%, 0.9592; 68%, 97%, 0.9363 and 71%, 99%, 0.9008 respectively. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve indicated that the systematic diagnostic performances of PET, PET-CT, DWI were superior to other imaging modalities. CONCLUSIONS: The present work demonstrated that DWI, PET, PET-CT were the top-priority consideration of imaging modalities for detecting metastatic pelvic lymph node in gynecological carcinoma. DWI was recommended as the first choice for metastasis exclusion and all the other imaging techniques including CT and MRI were suitable for metastasis conformation. However, for the early stage lymph node malignancy, PET or PET-CT could represent a better choice. More studies exploring the diagnostic efficacy of detailed criteria are required in the future.