• Jingfeng Hu, Dengyan Zhu, and Yang Yang.
• Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 Dec 1; 97 (50): e13722e13722.

ObjectiveWe determined the value of F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) for the assessment of preoperative lymph node metastases in patients with esophageal cancer.MethodsWe searched electronic database indexes for articles on PET/CT assessment of lymph node status. Information including true positives, false positives, false negatives, and true negatives was obtained. Based on these data, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, and likelihood ratio were calculated using bivariate models and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) were drawn.ResultsPatients without neoadjuvant treatment had a pooled sensitivity and specificity (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 0.57 (0.45-0.69) and 0.91 (0.85-0.95), respectively. Patients who received neoadjuvant treatment had a pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.53 (0.35-0.70) and 0.96 (0.86-0.99), respectively.ConclusionsThe PET/CT has a high diagnostic specificity but its diagnostic sensitivity is low; thus, its diagnosis findings cannot accurately reflect the lymph node status.

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