Diagnostic value of the vascular index measured by superb microvascular imaging for evaluating breast tumors: a meta-analysis.

Aim: This meta-analysis aims to assess the accuracy of superb microvascular imaging (SMI) using the vascular index (VI) in the diagnosis of breast tumors.

Material and methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library and Scopus were searched for relevant literature by two researchers until March 14, 2023. The Stata Version 16.0 software was utilized to compute the pooled values for sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Spe), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and diagnostic odd ratios (DOR). Heterogeneity among the included literature was assessed using the I2 statistic and Q test. Conducting influence analysis was used to ensure the robustness of the pooled conclusions and the Deeks' funnel plot asymmetry test to assess publication bias. We also performed the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve.

Results: Six studies included 1200 breast lesions. The ultimate results in the VI of SMI are as follows: The pooled Sen was 0.80 (95% confidence interval(CI), 0.75-0.85), the pooled Spe was 0.68 (95% CI 0.63-0.74), the pooled PLR was 2.54 (95% CI 2.07-3.12), the pooled NLR was 0.29 (95% CI 0.22-0.38), the pooled DOR was 8.91 (95% CI 5.62-14.13), and the area under the SROC (AUC) was 0.81.

Conclusion: The application of SMI using VI may have the potential to benefit the patients and represents a valuable quantitative parameter of SMI for the diagnosis of breast neoplasms.