Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Uterine Leiomyomas and Sarcomas

Abstract

Differential diagnosis between uterine leiomyomas and sarcomas is challenging. Ultrasound shows an uncertain role in the clinical practice given that pooled estimates about its diagnostic accuracy are lacking. To assess the accuracy of ultrasound in the differential diagnosis between uterine leiomyomas and sarcomas. A systematic review was performed searching 5 electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Sciences, Google Scholar, Scopus, and ClinicalTrial.gov) from their inception to June 2023. All peer-reviewed observational or randomized clinical trials that reported an unbiased postoperative histologic diagnosis of uterine leiomyoma or uterine sarcoma that also comprised a preoperative ultrasonographic evaluation of the uterine mass. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, diagnostic odds ratio, and area under the curve on summary receiver operating characteristic were calculated for each included study and as pooled estimate, with 95% confidence interval (CI); 972 women (694 with uterine leiomyomas and 278 with uterine sarcomas) were included. Ultrasound showed pooled sensitivity of 0.76 (95% CI, 0.70-0.81), specificity of 0.89 (95% CI, 0.87-0.92), positive and negative likelihood ratios of 6.65 (95% CI, 4.45-9.93) and 0.26 (95% CI, 0.07-1.0) respectively, diagnostic odds ratio of 23.06 (95% CI, 4.56-116.53), and area under the curve of 0.8925. Ultrasound seems to have only a moderate diagnostic accuracy in the differential diagnosis between uterine leiomyomas and sarcomas, with a lower sensitivity than specificity.