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Review
. 2021 Sep 28;11(10):1782.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11101782.

Magnetic Resonance Accuracy in the Diagnosis of Anterior Talo-Fibular Ligament Acute Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Michela Barini  1 , Domenico Zagaria  1 , Davide Licandro  1 , Sergio Pansini  1 , Chiara Airoldi  2 , Massimiliano Leigheb  3 , Alessandro Carriero  1
Affiliations
Review

Magnetic Resonance Accuracy in the Diagnosis of Anterior Talo-Fibular Ligament Acute Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Michela Barini et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: The studies about injury to the anterior talo-fibular ligament (ATFL) are focused mainly on chronic symptoms and chronic instability, and the literature about the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in acute injuries is quite lacking.

Methods: This systematic review with meta-analysis analyzes the diagnostic accuracy of MRI on acute ATFL injury. Relative studies were retrieved after searching three databases (MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trails). Eligible studies were summarized. The quality of the included articles was assessed using the revised Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) tool. Data were extracted to calculate pooled sensitivity and specificity of MRI.

Results: Seven studies met our inclusion and exclusion criteria. For MRI, the pooled sensitivities and specificity in diagnosing acute ATFL injury were respectively 1.0 (95% CI: 0.58-1) and 0.9 (95% CI: 0.79-0.96). Pooled LR+ and LR- were respectively 10.4 (95% CI: 4.6-23) and 0 (95% CI: 0-0.82).

Conclusion: This systematic review with meta-analysis investigated the accuracy of imaging for the diagnosis of acute ATFL injury. Our results demonstrated that MRI shows high diagnostic accuracy in the diagnosis of acute ATFL lesions. These results suggest that routine MRI in the case of suspected ATFL acute injury may be clinically useful, although this is not done in clinical practice due probably to high cost.

Keywords: MRI accuracy; acute ATFL injury; diagnostic accuracy; lateral ankle trauma; meta-analysis; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of search strategy.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot of Magnetic Resonance Accuracy in the diagnosis of anterior talo-fibular ligaments acute injury. Note: we reported sensitivity and specificity of each study included in the analysis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Summary Receiver Operating Characteristic (SROC) curve for Magnetic Resonance Accuracy in the diagnosis of anterior talo-fibular ligaments acute injury.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Funnel plot for Magnetic Resonance Accuracy in the diagnosis of anterior talo-fibular ligaments acute injury.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Fagan’s nonogram for the calculation of post-test probabilities.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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