The Diagnostic Performance of Linked Color Imaging Compared to White Light Imaging in Endoscopic Diagnosis of Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background/aims: Recognizing infection during endoscopy is important because it can lead to the performance of confirmatory testing. Linked color imaging (LCI) is an image enhancement technique that can improve the detection of gastrointestinal lesions. The purpose of this study was to compare LCI to conventional white light imaging (WLI) in the endoscopic diagnosis of infection.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search using PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. All studies evaluating the diagnostic performance of LCI or WLI in the endoscopic diagnosis of were eligible. Studies on magnifying endoscopy, chromoendoscopy, and artificial intelligence were excluded.

Results: Thirty-four studies were included in this meta-analysis, of which 32 reported the performance of WLI and eight reported the performance of LCI in diagnosing infection. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of WLI in the diagnosis of infection were 0.528 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.517 to 0.540) and 0.821 (95% CI, 0.811 to 0.830), respectively. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of LCI in the diagnosis of were 0.816 (95% CI, 0.790 to 0.841) and 0.868 (95% CI, 0.850 to 0.884), respectively. The pooled diagnostic odds ratios of WLI and LCI were 15.447 (95% CI, 8.225 to 29.013) and 31.838 (95% CI, 15.576 to 65.078), respectively. The areas under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves of WLI and LCI were 0.870 and 0.911, respectively.

Conclusions: LCI showed higher sensitivity in the endoscopic diagnosis of infection than standard WLI.