Hepatic Subcapsular Flow as a Significant Diagnostic Marker for Biliary Atresia: A Meta-Analysis

AIM: Increasing evidence indicates that hepatic subcapsular flow (HSF) can serve as a noninvasive ultrasonographic marker for the early diagnosis of biliary atresia (BA). However, results regarding its diagnostic accuracy are inconsistent and inconclusive. We conducted this meta-analysis with an aim to systematically evaluate the diagnostic value of HSF in predicting BA. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search of four databases was conducted to identify the eligible studies. All analyses were performed using STATA 12.0. RESULTS: Nine studies from eight articles containing 368 patients and 469 controls were included in our meta-analysis. Briefly, the values for pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under the curve (AUC) were 0.95 (95% CI 0.88-0.98), 0.92 (95% CI 0.85-0.96), 11.6 (95% CI 6.3-21.5), 0.06 (95% CI 0.02-0.14), 201 (95% CI 59-689), and 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-0.99), respectively. Additionally, metaregression along with subgroup analysis based on various covariates revealed the potential sources of heterogeneity and the detailed diagnostic value in each subgroup. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis showed that HSF assay could provide high accuracy in predicting BA patients and non-BA individuals. However, further studies with better design and larger sample size are required to support the results of the present study.