Eleven studies, with a total of 495 participants, were included in the review. Five studies reported prospective, consecutive recruitment of participants; the remaining six studies were retrospective database reviews. No further results of the QUADAS assessment were reported.
The pooled estimate of the sensitivity of whole-body MRI for the detection of bone metastases was 89.9% (95% CI 84.5% to 93.9%) and the pooled estimate of specificity was 91.8% (95%CI 88.2% to 94.6%). The pooled estimate of DOR was 105.58 (95% CI 27.86 to 400.07). There was significant between study heterogeneity in all estimates. The Q* index derived from the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 89.9%.
There was no evidence of threshold effect. Full results of the meta-regression analysis were not reported, but the variable reported as 'most important' (diffusion-weighted imaging) was not statistically significant. Subgroup analyses indicated that specificity, DOR and Q* index were significantly lower in studies using whole-body MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging than in those without diffusion-weighted imaging; there were no other significant differences.
There was no evidence of publication bias.