Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of conventional ultrasound, ultrasound elastography and their combination in benign and malignant breast nodules using meta-analysis. Methods The English databases (EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library) and Chinese databases (China Biomedical Literature Database, China HowNet, VIP, Wanfang Database) were searched to collect the Chinese and English literatures about the diagnostic value of conventional ultrasound and elastography in differentiating the benign and malignant breast lesions up to April 20, 2021, the reviewers strictly followed the inclusion and exclusion criteria to screen the literature, extract the data and conduct quality assessment. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio and 95%CI were calculated by using meta-DiSc1.4 software for heterogeneity analysis and data combining analysis. The forest map and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drew, and the area under the ROC curve was calculated. StataSE14.0 software was used to draw deek funnel plot to evaluate publication bias, and Fagan’s nomogram was used to evaluate the clinical utility of each test method. Results A final selection of 42 articles involving 6 009 nodules in 5 118 patients was included. The sensitivity for conventional ultrasound, elastosonography and two techniques combination was 0.80 [95%CI (0.79, 0.82)], 0.87 [95%CI (0.86, 0.89)] and 0.93 [95%CI (0.91, 0.94)], respectively; with specificity of 0.75 [95%CI (0.73, 0.76)], 0.85 [95%CI (0.84, 0.86)] and 0.94 [95%CI (0.93, 0.95)]. The summery area under curve was 0.86, 0.94 and 0.98, respectively. There were significant differences in the diagnostic efficiency among the three groups（all P<0.05）. The Deek’s funnel plot showed no significant publication bias (all P>0.05). The pre-testprobability of conventional ultrasound, elastosonography and two techniques combination were both 20%, and the post-testprobability were 49%, 66%, and 82%, respectively. Conclusions The accuracy of elastography in distinguishing benign from malignant breast nodule is relatively high, while the accuracy of benign and malignant nodules in conventional ultrasound is generally acceptable. However, the accuracy of the combination of the two is higher, which is worthy of clinical application.
