Background: The gastrointestinal tract is the second most involved organ for graft-versus-host disease where involvement of the small intestine is present in 50% of the cases. Therefore, the use of a non-invasive investigation i.e., video capsule endoscopy (VCE) seems ideal in the diagnostic work-up, but this has never been systematically evaluated before.
Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to determine the efficacy and safety of VCE, in comparison with conventional endoscopy in patients who received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Method: Databases searched were PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and Cochrane CENTRAL. All databases were searched from their inception date until June 17, 2022. The search identified 792 publications, of which 8 studies were included in our analysis comprising of 232 unique patients. Efficacy was calculated in comparison with the golden standard i.e., histology. Risk of bias assessment was performed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool.
Results: The pooled sensitivity was higher for VCE at 0.77 (95% CI: 0.60-0.89) compared to conventional endoscopy 0.62 (95% CI: 0.47-0.75) but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.155, Q = 2.02). Similarly, the pooled specificity was higher for VCE at 0.68 (95% CI: 0.46-0.84) than for conventional endoscopy at 0.58 (95% CI: 0.40-0.74) but not statistically significant (p = 0.457, Q = 0.55). Moreover, concern for adverse events such as intestinal obstruction or perforation was not justified since none of the capsules were retained in the small bowel and no perforations occurred in relation to VCE. A limitation to the study is the retrospective approach seen in 50% of the studies.
Conclusion: The role of video capsule endoscopy in diagnosing or dismissing graft-versus-host disease is not yet established and requires further studies. However, the modality appears safe in this cohort.
Keywords: Video capsule endoscopy; adverse events; conventional endoscopy; graft-versus-host disease; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.