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Figure 5 We conducted a meta-analysis of 8 studies (PubMed reference lists, restricted to English-language literature) assessing the sensitivity and specificity of myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) for detection of significant coronary artery disease (CAD) that were published before January 2006. The text words used were "myocardial contrast echocardiography," "single-photon emission computerized tomography," "dobutamine stress echocardiography," and "stress echocardiography." Studies were included when coronary angiography was used as gold standard and if results were analyzed on a patient-based analysis. RevMan 4.2 of the Cochrane Collaboration Group was used to calculate variance-weighted pooled difference of proportions for the differences in sensitivity and specificity between MCE and SPECT/DSE according to a random effect meta-analysis. The pooled estimates of the differences in sensitivity and specificity were 0.14 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09 to 0.20) and 0.03 (95% CI –0.14 to 0.21), respectively, indicating a higher sensitivity for MCE than for SPECT/DSE. No difference was found for the specificity. n/N = number of patients with CAD detected by MCE or SPECT/DSE divided by the total number of patients with CAD; RD = risk difference. * indicates DSE.