Transcranial Color-Coded Sonography Criteria for Moderate and Severe Middle Cerebral Artery Stenosis

The Effect of CT Imaging Technology in the Diagnosis of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery Diseases

“…Calcified plaques and artifacts in the enhancement phase were eliminated by subtracting the data from two scans, followed by curved surface reconstruction for a more precise assessment of calcified stenosis. Liu et al found that the 320-slice CT coronary subtraction technique can effectively overcome such calcification/sclerosis artifacts and improve the accuracy of diagnosis [ 6 ]. In order to obtain high-quality subtraction images, accurate alignment and registration of coronary CTA in the enhanced phase and calcium integral data in the plain scan phase are the key.…”

The Diagnostic Accuracy of Transcranial Color-Coded Doppler Ultrasound Technique in Stratifying Intracranial Cerebral Artery Stenoses in Cerebrovascular Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The eighteen studies comprised fourteen prospective studies [ 19 , 20 , 22 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 38 , 39 , 40 ] and four retrospective studies [ 21 , 23 , 25 , 41 ] ( Table 1 and Table 2 ). The total number of patients in the included studies who underwent both index and reference tests was 3082, consisting of 2092 males (68%) and 990 females (32%).…”

“…The included studies were observed to exhibit significant study methodological variability with respect to the (1) TCCD techniques—contrast-enhanced versus non-contrast TCCD, (2) ultrasound diagnostic parameter, (3) assessment site, (4) degree of stenosis at which accuracy was established, and (5) reference standard used (DSA, MRA, or CTA). A total of seven (39%) studies [ 24 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 38 , 39 , 40 ] used contrast-enhanced TCCD technique alone whereas nine (50%) studies [ 19 , 21 , 23 , 25 , 27 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 41 ] used solely non-contrast TCCD technique. A combination of the two techniques was utilized in two studies (11%) [ 20 , 22 ] ( Table 3 ).…”

“…With respect to the site of assessment, a majority of the studies assessed the anterior circulation with a focus on middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenoses—nine (50%) studies [ 22 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. The other seven (39%) studies assessed both anterior and posterior circulations [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 23 , 24 , 27 , 28 ], whereas two (11%) studies focused on posterior circulation, mainly the basilar artery (BA) [ 25 , 26 ].…”

“…The QUADAS assessment concluded there is high methodological quality within individual studies, as most of the studies had a low risk of bias across the four domains of patient selection, index test, reference standard, and flow and timing ( Table 4 ). A majority of the studies (78%) adopted a prospective study design [ 19 , 20 , 22 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 38 , 39 , 40 ], whilst retrospective study design was used in only four studies (22%) [ 21 , 23 , 25 , 41 ]; this ensured a low risk of patient selection bias. Additionally, a single-center approach was adopted in all, except one study by Gerriets et al [ 40 ], in which a multicenter approach was used, and this further reduced the possibility of bias and traps related to a multicenter study design [ 45 ].…”