Systematic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic performance of lacrimal gland ultrasound elastography in primary Sjögren’s syndrome

This research conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of ultrasonic elastography (USE) in detecting lacrimal gland involvement in individuals suffering from primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS).

A comprehensive search was undertaken across multiple databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Wanfang, Web of Science, and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, to gather relevant literature pertaining to the application of USE in diagnosing pSS from January 1, 2000, to October 1, 2023. Pooled data were used to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratios. Several summary metrics were used to evaluate SWE’s performance in detecting pSS, including the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, diagnostic odds ratios, sensitivities, and specificities.

Five pertinent studies included a total of 273 patients. Shear wave elastography (SWE) demonstrated a pooled sensitivity of 0.88 (95% CI 0.77–0.94) and specificity of 0.94 (95% CI 0.88–0.98), with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.97 (95% CI 0.95–0.98). SWE exhibited a positive likelihood ratio of 15.86 (95% CI 6.99–36.00) and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.13 (95% CI 0.07–0.25). No evidence of publication bias was observed (p = 0.70).

SWE demonstrates a remarkable degree of precision in detecting lacrimal gland involvement in individuals suffering from pSS.