You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Diagnosis
Review: magnetic resonance imaging alone is of limited usefulness in diagnosing multiple sclerosis

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ebm.11.5.155

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    Whiting P, Harbord R, Main C, et al. Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: systematic review. BMJ 2006;332:875–84.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text

    
 
 Q How accurate is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS)?

    Clinical impact ratings IM/Ambulatory care ★★★★★☆☆ Internal medicine ★★★★★☆☆ Neurology ★★★★★☆☆

    METHODS

    Embedded ImageData sources:

    12 electronic databases (to September or November 2004), reference lists, and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence MS guidelines.

    Embedded ImageStudy selection and assessment:

    published and unpublished studies in any language that evaluated the accuracy of MRI for early diagnosis of MS in patients presenting with suspected disease. 18 prospective cohort studies (n = 2102) and 11 studies of other designs (mainly case control, n = 2527) met the selection criteria. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) criteria were used to assess quality of individual studies.

    Embedded ImageOutcomes:

    sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs), and diagnostic odds ratio (OR) (the odds of positivity in people with MS, divided by the odds of positivity in …

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • For correspondence: Dr P Whiting, MRC Health Services Research Collaboration, Bristol, UK. penny.whiting{at}bristol.ac.uk

    • Source of funding: no external funding.