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©2010 Baishideng. All rights reserved
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 14, 2010; 16(6): 785-786
Published online Feb 14, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i6.785
Published online Feb 14, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i6.785
Meta-analysis of capsule endoscopy in patients diagnosed or suspected with esophageal varices
Daniel Ahn, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
Praveen Guturu, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77550, United States
Author contributions: Guturu P designed and wrote the letter; Ahn D extracted analyzed the data.
Correspondence to: Praveen Guturu, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Route 0570, Galveston, TX 77555, United States. prguturu@utmb.edu
Telephone: +1-409-7721011 Fax: +1-409-7725462
Received: November 25, 2009
Revised: January 2, 2010
Accepted: January 9, 2010
Published online: February 14, 2010
Revised: January 2, 2010
Accepted: January 9, 2010
Published online: February 14, 2010
Abstract
The PillCam ESO (Given Imaging, Israel) or esophageal capsule endoscopy (ECE) is a novel technique used in the diagnostic evaluation of esophagus. Many studies have been performed to compare the accuracy of ECE against the current gold standard esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy and a meta-analysis recently published by Lu et al suggests that ECE may have an acceptable sensitivity and specificity in detecting esophageal varices. We would like to discuss the importance and implication of publication bias in this meta-analysis.
Keywords: Capsule endoscopy, Screening varices