Six studies (1,257 cysts; range: 37 to 656) were included in the review.
Two studies were considered to be of good quality, three were moderate, and one was poor.
Transvaginal grey-scale ultrasound without Doppler (6 studies, 1,257 cysts).
The positive LR ranged from 7.6 (95% CI: 3.7, 15.6) to 29.8 (95% CI: 18.2, 49). The negative LR ranged from 0.1 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.4) to 0.4 (95% CI: 0.2, 0.8). The sensitivity ranged from 64% (specificity 100%) to 89% (specificity 91%), while the specificity ranged from 91% (sensitivity 89%) to 100% (sensitivity 64%).
Conventional colour Doppler with grey-scale ultrasound (1 study, 57 cysts).
The positive LR was 1.2 (95% CI: 0.8, 1.4) and the negative LR was 0.4 (95% CI: 0.09, 1.7). The sensitivity was 90% and the specificity was 22%.
Colour Doppler energy imaging with grey-scale ultrasound (1 study, 170 cysts). The positive LR was 33.5 (95% CI: 10.9, 103) and the negative LR was 0.1 (95% CI: 0.05, 0.2). The sensitivity was 90% and the specificity was 97%.