Clinical examination versus magnetic resonance imaging in the pretreatment staging of cervical carcinoma: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To review the literature on the diagnostic performance of clinical examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting parametrial invasion and advanced stage disease (FIGO stage ≥ IIB) in patients with cervical carcinoma.

Methods: Reports of studies were searched using the MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane databases. Two observers reported on data relevant for analysis and methodological quality using the QUADAS scoring system.