Background: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been investigated by multiple authors as a radiation-free alternative to positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET-CT) in children with lymphoma.
Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio of whole-body MRI compared to PET-CT for the staging of pediatric lymphoma.
Methods: The databases PubMed, Embase, and Scopus were searched for studies that reported the accuracy of whole-body MRI compared to PET-CT for lymphoma staging in children. Data was collected from included studies to formulate 2 × 2 contingency tables, including the number of true positive, true negative, false positive, and false negative. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn and the area under the curve (AUC) calculated. In addition, the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS 2) tool was used to assess the risk of bias and applicability concerns.
Results: A total of seven studies were included in the final analysis. Of these, six studies used unenhanced whole-body MRI. The pooled sensitivity of whole-body MRI-based staging was 95.8%, while the pooled specificity was 21.8%. The DOR for whole-body MRI was 1.19. For extranodal staging, the pooled sensitivity was 88.9%, specificity was 97.4%, and DOR was 25.29. The partial AUC for overall staging was 0.63, whereas that for extranodal staging stood at 0.88. Based on the QUADAS 2 tool, all seven studies were at risk of bias (six at high risk, one at unclear risk).
Conclusion: Whole-body MRI has high sensitivity for staging of pediatric lymphoma and may be a useful alternative to PET-CT.
Keywords: Computed tomography; Lymphoma; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neoplasms; Pediatrics; Positron emission tomography.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.