Table 1

Methods appraisal of studies included

First author	Performance of same reference standard in all patients	Index test interpreted independently of reference test	Withdrawals reported	Cut-off value index test determined without bias (yes/no)	Valid reference standard (ESC/ACC criteria)	Unclear test results reported
Lefevre	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Mad	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Ilva	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	–
McCann	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	–
Naroo	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
Valle	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
Alhashemi	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	no
Di Serio	yes	yes^*	unclear	no	yes	–
Mion	yes	yes^*	unclear	no	yes	–
Ecollan	yes	no^*	unclear	yes	yes	no
Seino - 2004	yes	yes^*	unclear	yes	no	no
Okamoto	yes	yes	unclear	yes	no	–
Seino - 2003	yes	unclear^*	yes	yes	no	no
Chen	yes	yes	yes	no	no	–
Haastrup	yes	yes	no	no	no	–
Ishii	yes	yes	no	no	no	–