Fig 1.
Flow chart of study selection for inclusion in the systematic review.
Table 1.
Characteristics of Eligible Studies-1.
Fig 2.
Summary of QUADAS-2 assessments of included studies.
Fig 3.
Forest plot for sensitivity and specificity.
Fig 4.
Hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curves for the detection of pulmonary embolism using transthoracic ultrasonography.
Fig 5.
The Deek’s funnel plot for the assessment of potential publication bias.
Fig 6.
Fagan plot analysis to evaluate the clinical utility of transthoracic ultrasonography (TS) for the detection of pulmonary embolism (PE).
(a) With a pretest probability of PE of 1.3%, the post-test probability of PE, given positive and negative TS results, were 6% and 0%. (b) With a pretest probability of PE of 16.2%, the post-test probabilities of PE, given positive and negative TS results, were 50% and 3%. (c) With a pretest probability of PE of 40.6%, the post-test probability of PE, given positive and negative TS results, were 78% and 11%. The Fagan plot consists of a vertical axis on the left with the pretest probability, an axis in the middle representing the likelihood ratio, and a vertical axis on the right representing the post-test probability.
Fig 7.
Fagan plot analysis to evaluate the clinical utility of transthoracic ultrasonography (TS) for the detection of pulmonary embolism (PE) from studies published post-2000.
(a) With a pretest probability of PE of 1.3%, the post-test probability of PE, given positive and negative TS results, were 8% and 0%. (b) With a pretest probability of PE of 16.2%, the post-test probabilities of PE, given positive and negative TS results, were 55% and 5%. (c) With a pretest probability of PE of 40.6%, the post-test probability of PE, given positive and negative TS results, were 81% and 15%. The Fagan plot consists of a vertical axis on the left with the pretest probability, an axis in the middle representing the likelihood ratio, and a vertical axis on the right representing the post-test probability.
Fig 8.
The relationship between post-test probability and pre-test probability.