2 Yousefifard et al
have low sensitivities in this regard (7, 8). Vast improve-ments of technology have led to development of hand-held and pocket-size ultrasound devices (9, 10). A meta-analysis was performed in 2010 on four studies that re-ported the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography in detection of pleural effusion to be 93% and 96%, re-spectively (11). Yet, inclusion of few surveys and lack of sensitivity analysis and publication bias confirm the ne-cessity of an update on this subject. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a systematic review of the available lit-erature determining the diagnostic value of ultrasonog-raphy and radiography for detection of pleural effusion through a meta-analytic approach.