{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T07:46:04Z","timestamp":1781077564834,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,28]],"date-time":"2021-12-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1640649600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Imaging"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Computed tomography (CT) diagnosis of empyema is challenging because current literature features multiple overlapping pleural findings. We aimed to identify informative findings for structured reporting. The screening according to inclusion criteria (P: Pleural empyema, I: CT C: culture\/gram-stain\/pathology\/pus, O: Diagnostic accuracy measures), data extraction, and risk of bias assessment of studies published between 01-1980 and 10-2021 on Pubmed, Embase, and Web of Science (WOS) were performed independently by two reviewers. CT findings with pooled diagnostic odds ratios (DOR) with 95% confidence intervals, not including 1, were considered as informative. Summary estimates of diagnostic accuracy for CT findings were calculated by using a bivariate random-effects model and heterogeneity sources were evaluated. Ten studies with a total of 252 patients with and 846 without empyema were included. From 119 overlapping descriptors, five informative CT findings were identified: Pleural enhancement, thickening, loculation, fat thickening, and fat stranding with an AUC of 0.80 (hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic, HSROC). Potential sources of heterogeneity were different thresholds, empyema prevalence, and study year.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jimaging8010003","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,29]],"date-time":"2021-12-29T02:31:27Z","timestamp":1640745087000},"page":"3","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Diagnostic Accuracy of Imaging Findings in Pleural Empyema: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Desiree","family":"Zettinig","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Research and Analytical Services, Department of Informatics, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Institute of Radiology, Kantonsspital Aarau, 5001 Aarau, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7237-711X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tugba Akinci","family":"D\u2019Antonoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Research and Analytical Services, Department of Informatics, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Department of Radiology, University Children\u2019s Hospital Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adrian","family":"Wilder-Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Research and Analytical Services, Department of Informatics, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jens","family":"Bremerich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jan A.","family":"Roth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Research and Analytical Services, Department of Informatics, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Basel Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Hospital Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9949-7912","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raphael","family":"Sexauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Research and Analytical Services, Department of Informatics, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1486","DOI":"10.1378\/chest.104.5.1486","article-title":"The incidence of pleural effusion in a well-defined region. 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