Diagnosis and Management of Infantile Hemangioma

Table 34. Strength of evidence for effectiveness of imaging modalities
Outcome
Intervention
MRI vs.
Ultrasound
MRI vs.
Ultrasound
vs. CT
Study Design
Quality and Number of
Studies (N Total)
Accuracy in detecting
spinal anomalies
Cohort studies: 1 poor 68
(48)
Accuracy in detecting
liver IH
Study
Limitations
Consistency Directness Precision
Reporting
Bias
Finding
Strength of Evidence Grade
High Unknown Direct Imprecise NA Ultrasound had a sensitivity of 50%
for identifying spinal anomalies
including but not limited to IH and
20% for identifying intraspinal IH
only, compared with 100% for MRI.
Insufficient SOE given small, single,
poor quality study.
High Unknown Direct Imprecise NA Ultrasound detected lesions in 42/44
children (95% sensitivity).
Cohort studies: 1 poor 70
(55)
CT = computed tomography; IH = infantile hemangioma; MRI = magnetic resonance imaging; n = number; NA = not applicable; SOE=strength of evidence
Insufficient SOE given single small,
poor quality study.
80