Early Systematic Review Research Articles

Evaluating the Impact of Novel Incretin Therapies on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes: An Early Systematic Review.

Background This systematic review is registered with CRD42024507397 protocol number and aims to compare the known data about retatrutide on long-term cardiovascular (CV) protection with tirzepatide, an incretin with recent proven CV benefits. Material and Methods The inclusion criteria were (i) original full-text articles that are randomized control or clinical trials; (ii) published within the last ten years; (iii) published in English; and (iv) conducted on adult human populations. The exclusion criteria were articles deruled on cell cultures or mammals. Studies were selected if they (1) included patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and CV risk; (2) patients that received either tirzepatide or retatrutide; and (3) provided sufficient information such as the corresponding 95% confidence intervals or at least a sufficient p-value. Studies were excluded if they were a letter to the editor, expert opinions, case reports, meeting abstracts, or reviews; redundant publications; or needed more precise or complete data. Results The seven included studies were assessed for bias with the Newcastle Ottawa scale, heterogenous, and emphasized the potential CV beneficial effect of type 2 DM (T2DM) therapies (glycemia, glycated A1c hemoglobin, body weight, lipid profile, blood pressure and renal parameter). Discussions Further, longer follow-up studies are necessary to verify the long-term CV protection, standardize the specific aspects of CV risk, and compare with subjects without T2DM for a more integrative interpretation of the CV effects independent of the improvement of metabolic activity.

The Omission of Anthracycline Chemotherapy in Women with Early HER2-Negative Breast Cancer-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Anthracycline-taxane is the standard chemotherapy strategy for treating high-risk early breast cancer despite the potentially life-threatening adverse events caused by anthracyclines. Commonly, the combination of docetaxel and cyclophosphamide (TC) is considered an alternative option. However, the efficacy of TC compared to anthracycline-taxane chemotherapy is unclear. This study compares disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and cardiotoxicity between adjuvant TC and anthracycline-taxane for stages I-III, HER2-negative breast cancer. A systematic search on MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane CENTRAL for randomized-controlled trials published until 11 March 2024, yielded 203 studies with 11,803 patients, and seven trials were included. TC results in little to no difference in DFS (HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.98-1.20; moderate-certainty of evidence); OS (1.02, 95% CI 0.89-1.16; high-certainty of evidence); and cardiotoxicity (RR 0.54, 95% CI 0.16-1.76; high-certainty of evidence), compared to anthracycline-taxane. In the subgroup analysis, patients with ≥4 lymph nodes had improved DFS from anthracycline-taxane over TC. Overall, there was no difference between TC and anthracycline-taxane in DFS, OS and cardiotoxicity. In women with ≥4 nodes, anthracycline-taxane was associated with a substantial reduction in relapse events, compared to TC. Our study supports the current standard of practice, which is to use anthracycline-taxane and TC chemotherapy as a reasonable option in select cases.

Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in early pregnancy-A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Available data on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and pregnancy outcomes mostly refer to women contracting the infection during advanced pregnancy or close to delivery. There is limited information on the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection in early pregnancy and outcomes thereof. We aimed to systematically review the maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in early pregnancy, defined as <20 weeks of gestation (PROSPERO Registration 2020 CRD42020177673). Searches were carried out in PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, and Scopus databases from January 2020 until April 2023 and the WHO database of publications on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from December 2019 to April 2023. Cohort and case-control studies on COVID-19 occurring in early pregnancy that reported data on maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes were included. Case reports and studies reporting only exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or not stratifying outcomes based on gestational age were excluded. Data were extracted in duplicate. Meta-analyses were conducted when appropriate, using R meta (R version 4.0.5). A total of 18 studies, 12 retrospective and six prospective, were included in this review, reporting on 10 147 SARS-CoV-2-positive women infected in early pregnancy, 9533 neonates, and 180 882 SARS-CoV-2 negative women. The studies had low to moderate risk of bias according to the Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment Scale. The studies showed significant clinical and methodological heterogeneity. A meta-analysis could be performed only on the outcome miscarriage rate, with a pooled random effect odds ratio of 1.44 (95% confidence interval 0.96-2.18), showing no statistical difference in miscarriage in SARS-CoV-2-infected women. Individual studies reported increased incidences of stillbirth, low birthweight and preterm birth among neonates born to mothers affected by COVID-19 in early pregnancy; however, these results were not consistent among all studies. In this comprehensive systematic review of available evidence, we identified no statistically significant adverse association between SARS-CoV-2 infection in early pregnancy (before 20 weeks of gestation) and fetal, neonatal, or maternal outcomes. However, a 44% increase in miscarriage rate is concerning and further studies of larger sample size are needed to confirm or refute our findings.

The Relationship between Language and Technology: How Screen Time Affects Language Development in Early Life-A Systematic Review.

Screen time refers to the amount of time a child is exposed to a screen, that is, television, computer, smartphone, or any other digital medium. Prolonged screen time in the first years of life may affect a child's cognitive abilities, especially language acquisition. A systematic review was conducted, following the PRISMA-P guidelines, with the aim to explore the available literature relating to the impact of screen time on children's language development. This review identified 18 articles. The articles reviewed showed that prolonged screen time and exposure to screens in the first 2 years of life can negatively affect language development and communication skills, in terms of comprehension and vocabulary range. In addition, overexposure to screens in the early years can affect overall cognitive development, especially attention to environmental stimuli, social experiences, problem solving, and communication with others, e.g., the alternance of rhythms and roles in a conversation. In conclusion, our systematic review supports the idea that preschool screen time has negative effects on children's cognitive and language development. Television seems to be the medium most detrimental to children's skills, as it is used in a passive manner and is often characterised by language and content that do not suit the child's processing mode. Future studies should increasingly focus on the digital media that children possess at an early age, such as mobile phones and tablets, and on how children relate to the online world, such as social networks.

Effect and feasibility of gamification interventions for improving physical activity and health-related outcomes in cancer survivors: an early systematic review and meta-analysis.

Despite the well-documented advantages of regular physical activity (PA), patients with cancer show suboptimal participation. By using game design elements, gamification could be used to motivate individuals to engage in PA. It has been demonstrated that gamification interventions positively affect children, adolescents and older adults in health-related contexts. There are, however, inconsistent findings regarding the impact of gamification interventions on cancer survivors' PA and health-related outcomes, according to the literature. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of gamification interventions for improving PA and health-related outcomes among cancer survivors. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted following the Cochrane Handbook and PRISMA guidelines. Eight English databases and three Chinese databases were searched to identify eligible articles from inception to February 2022. Two reviewers independently performed the literature screening and data extraction. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) Working Group levels of evidence was used to evaluate the certainty of the findings. Ten randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2014 and 2022 were included. The meta-analysis revealed no significant differences in the step counts and for moderate to vigorous PA, and the certainty of the findings was very low, according to GRADE. Meta-analysis for most outcomes could not be performed owing to the fewer included studies and significant heterogeneity. Most studies reported positive effects in improving moderate PA, sedentary behaviour, fatigue and at least one domain of quality of life. This review proved that gamified interactions are associated with low adverse event rates. Gamification interventions could be a feasible way to promote the adoption of mobile health (mHealth) technology in patients with cancer. Individual studies have demonstrated some positive effects of gamification interventions on PA and health-related outcomes. However, limited studies, small sample sizes and methodological heterogeneity weaken the evidence. Larger, well-designed RCTs are required to confirm the impact of gamification interventions on PA and health-related outcomes in cancer survivors.

Compassion and complex interpersonal trauma in adolescence: An early systematic review.

Whilst childhood trauma has been identified as a transdiagnostic risk factor for poly-psychopathology, compassion-focused interventions have emerged as transdiagnostic treatment modality. However, no previous systematic review has specifically explored the relationship between complex interpersonal trauma and compassion in adolescence. The aim of this early systematic review was to evaluate the existing evidence on the role of compassion in adolescents with complex interpersonal trauma. A systematic search of electronic databases was undertaken to identify cross-sectional and intervention studies that examined the role of compassion in the amelioration of psychopathology in adolescence. Nine studies, including three intervention studies and six cross-sectional studies, met the inclusion criteria. The findings suggested a mediating role of compassion in trauma-specific and overall psychopathology. Despite the dearth of research, this review suggests that integrating compassion might mediate the relationship between complex trauma and psychopathology in adolescents.

Learning loss during Covid-19: An early systematic review.

With Covid-19 having caused significant disruption to the global education system, researchers are beginning to become concerned with the impact that this has had on student learning progress and, in particular, whether learning loss has been experienced. To evaluate this, the authors conducted a thorough analysis of recorded learning loss evidence documented between March 2020 and March 2021. This systematic review aims to consolidate available data and to document what has been reported in the literature. Given the novelty of the subject, eight studies were identified; seven of these found evidence of student learning loss among at least some of the participants while one of the seven also found instances of learning gains in a particular subgroup. The remaining study found increased learning gains in their participants. Additionally, four of the studies observed increases in inequality where certain demographics of students experienced learning losses more significant than others. It is determined that further research is needed to increase the quantity of studies produced, their geographical focus, and the numbers of students they observe.

COVID-19 in hospitalized liver transplant recipients: An early systematic review and meta-analysis.

Adverse clinical outcomes related to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection among liver transplant (LTx) recipients remain undefined. We performed a meta‐analysis to determine the pooled prevalence of outcomes among hospitalized LTx recipients with COVID‐19. A database search of literature published between December 1, 2019, and November 20, 2020, was performed per PRISMA guidelines. Twelve studies comprising 517 hospitalized LTx recipients with COVID‐19 were analyzed. Common presenting symptoms were fever (71%), cough (62%), dyspnea (48%), and diarrhea (28%). Approximately 77% (95% CI, 61%‐93%) of LTx recipients had a history of liver cirrhosis. The most prevalent comorbidities were hypertension (55%), diabetes (45%), and cardiac disease (21%). In‐hospital mortality was 20% (95% CI, 13%‐28%) and rose to 41% (95% CI, 19%‐63%) (P < 0.00) with ICU admission. Additional subgroup analysis demonstrated a higher mortality risk in the elderly (>60‐65 years) (OR 4.26; 95% CI, 2.14‐8.49). There was no correlation in respect to sex or time since transplant. In summary, LTx recipients with COVID‐19 had a high prevalence of dyspnea and gastrointestinal symptoms. In‐hospital mortality was comparable to non‐transplant populations with similar comorbidities but appeared to be less than what is reported elsewhere for cirrhotic patients (26%‐40%). Importantly, the observed high case fatality in the elderly could be due to age‐associated comorbidities.

Occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare personnel: results from an early systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background.SARS-CoV-2 infection has become a global public health concern globally. Even though Healthcare Workers (HCWs) are supposedly at increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection, to date no pooled evidence has been collected.Materials and Methods.We searched online electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, medRxiv.org for pre-prints) for all available contribution (up to May 20, 2019). Two Authors independently screened articles and extracted the data. The pooled prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was analyzed using the random-effects model. The possible sources of heterogeneity were analyzed through subgroup analysis, and meta-regression.Results.The overall pooled prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was 3.5% (95%CI 1.8–6.6) for studies based on molecular assays, 5.5% (95%CI 2.1–14.1) for studies based on serological assays, and 6.5% (95%CI 2.5–15.6) for point-of-care capillary blood tests. Among subgroups, serological tests identified higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in physicians than in nurses (OR 1.436, 95%CI 1.026 to 2.008). Regression analysis indicated the possible presence of publication bias only for molecular tests (t -3.3526, p-value 0.002648).Conclusions.The overall pooled prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was lower than previously expected, but available studies were affected by significant heterogeneity, and the molecular studies by significant publication bias. Therefore, further high-quality research in the field is warranted. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Systematic review of radiomic biomarkers for predicting immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment outcomes.

Systemic therapy agents targeting immune checkpoint inhibitors have been approved for use since 2011. This type of therapy aims to trigger a patient's immune response to attack tumor cells, rather than acting against the tumor directly. Radiomics is an automated method of medical image analysis that is now being actively investigated for predictive markers of treatment response in immunotherapy. To conduct an early systematic review determining the current status of radiomic features as potential predictive markers of immunotherapy response. Provide a detailed critical appraisal of methodological quality of models, as this informs the degree of confidence about current reports of model performance. In addition, to offer some recommendations for future studies that could establish robust evidence for radiomic features as immunotherapy response markers. A PubMed citation search was conducted for publications up to and including April 2020, followed by full-text screening. A total of seven articles meeting the eligibility criteria were examined in detail for study characteristics, model information and methodological quality. The review was conducted in the Cochrane style but has not been prospectively registered. Results are reported following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of seven studies were examined in detail, comprising non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic melanoma and a diverse assortment of solid tumors. Methodological robustness of reviewed studies varied greatly. Principal shortcomings were lack of prospective registration, and deficiencies in feature selection and dimensionality reduction, model calibration, clinical utility and external validation. A few studies with overall moderate to good methodological quality were identified. These results suggest that current state-of-the-art performance of radiomics in regards to discrimination (area under the curve or concordance index) is in the vicinity of 0.7, but the very small number of studies to date prevents any conclusive remarks to be made. We recommended future improvements in regards to prospective study registration, clinical utility, methodological procedure and data sharing. Radiomics has a potentially significant role for predicting immunotherapy response. Additional multi-institutional studies with robust methodological underpinning and repeated external validations are required to establish the (added) value of radiomics within the pantheon of clinical tools for decision-making in immunotherapy.

Convalescent Plasma Therapy and Its Effects On COVID-19 Patient Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Current Literature.

Started in late 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly turned into a global pandemic. Considering there is no proven therapy for COVID-19 infection, there is a need to propose potential treatment options. The use of convalescent plasma is one such option as convalescent plasma has previously been used for treating outbreaks of Ebola, influenza, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and severe acute respiratory (SAR) viruses. Therefore, we carried out an early systematic review to evaluate the efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP) therapy and its effects on COVID-19 patient outcomes. A structured and rigorous systematic review was carried out that included all studies conducted on this topic between December 2019 and June 2020. A total of 10 studies containing a mix of case reports, case series, observational studies, and randomized control trials were identified. Most of the studies lacked randomization and included only small groups of patients. Considering the limitations in the design of current studies, it is difficult to draw a definitive conclusion. However, our results showed that plasma therapy produces notable improvements in patients' clinical symptoms and radiological and biochemical parameters associated with COVID-19 infection. Based on the available information, it is difficult to draw a tangible conclusion about whether plasma therapy improves patient mortality. Until we have concrete evidence to prove otherwise, convalescent plasma therapy may be used as adjuvant therapy for treating COVID-19 infection in critically ill patients.

GRAPPA 2019 Project Report.

At the 2019 annual meeting of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA), members received updates on several ongoing efforts. Among them were updates on research, including the trainee symposium, pilot research grants, and the Collaborative Research Network; GRAPPA's patient research partners; education, including the slide collection; treatment recommendations; and additional work related to advancing the understanding of disease aspects, including the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT)-GRAPPA outcome measure, axial involvement, and ultrasound enthesitis projects; as well as the early psoriatic disease systematic literature review and magnetic resonance imaging.

Prognosis of COVID-19 in Patients with Liver and Kidney Diseases: An Early Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The mortality and severity in COVID-19 is increased in patients with comorbidities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the severity and mortality in COVID-19 patients with underlying kidney and liver diseases. We retrieved data on the clinical features and primary composite end point of COVID-19 patients from Medline and Embase which had been released from inception by the April 16, 2020. The data on two comorbidities, liver diseases and chronic kidney disease, were pooled and statistically analysed to explain the associated severity and mortality rate. One hundred and forty-two abstracts were screened, and 41 full articles were then read. In total, 22 studies including 5595 COVID-19 patients were included in this study with case fatality rate of 16%. The prevalence of liver diseases and chronic kidney disease (CKD) were 3% (95% CI; 2–3%) and 1% (95% CI; 1–2%), respectively. In patients with COVID-19 and underlying liver diseases, 57.33% (43/75) of cases were severe, with 17.65% mortality, while in CKD patients, 83.93% (47/56) of cases were severe and 53.33% (8/15) mortality was reported. This study found an increased risk of severity and mortality in COVID-19 patients with liver diseases or CKD. This will lead to better clinical management and inform the process of implementing more stringent preventative measures for this group of patients.

Do individuals with Chronic Pain show attentional bias to pain-related information? An early stage systematic review of the eye-tracking evidence

Do individuals with Chronic Pain show attentional bias to pain-related information? An early stage systematic review of the eye-tracking evidence

Psychotherapeutic benefits of compassion-focused therapy: an early systematic review.

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) is a relatively novel form of psychotherapy that was developed for people who have mental health problems primarily linked to high shame and self-criticism. The aim of this early systematic review was to draw together the current research evidence of the effectiveness of CFT as a psychotherapeutic intervention, and to provide recommendations that may inform the development of further trials. A comprehensive search of electronic databases was undertaken to systematically identify literature relating to the effectiveness of CFT as a psychotherapeutic intervention. Reference lists of key journals were hand searched and contact with experts in the field was made to identify unpublished data. Fourteen studies were included in the review, including three randomized controlled studies. The findings from the included studies were, in the most part, favourable to CFT, and in particular seemed to be effective for people who were high in self-criticism. CFT shows promise as an intervention for mood disorders, particularly those high in self-criticism. However, more large-scale, high-quality trials are needed before it can be considered evidence-based practice. The review highlights issues from the current evidence that may be used to inform such trials.

Interventions employing mobile technology for overweight and obesity: an early systematic review of randomized controlled trials

SummaryObesity is a global epidemic with major healthcare implications and costs. Mobile technologies are potential interventions to promote weight loss. An early systematic review of this rapidly growing area of research was conducted. Electronic databases were searched for articles published between January 1998 and October 2011. Data sources included Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Ongoing research was searched for using clinical trials databases and registers. Out of 174 articles retrieved, 21 met the inclusion criteria of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on mobile technology interventions facilitating weight loss in overweight and obese adults with any other comparator. A narrative synthesis was undertaken. Seven articles were included and appraised using the Cochrane risk of bias tool: four presented a low risk of bias and three presented a high risk of bias. There is consistent strong evidence across the included multiple high-quality RCTs that weight loss occurs in the short-term because of mobile technology interventions, with moderate evidence for the medium-term. Recommendations for improving the reporting and quality of future trials are made including reporting weight loss in percent to meet clinical standards, and including features such as long-term follow-up, cost-effectiveness and patient acceptability.

Overview of the 2007 Food and Drug Administration Circulatory System Devices Panel Meeting on the Endeavor Zotarolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent

Initial trials comparing stenting with balloon angioplasty demonstrated improved angiographic and clinical outcomes with the former.1–3 The main clinical problem with bare metal stents (BMS) became the development of in-stent restenosis.4–6 Early data suggested that drug-eluting stents (DES) could mitigate, if not abolish, this problem.7–9 Since the approval of DES, these devices have become the predominant stents used in percutaneous coronary interventions, regardless of indication. As of September 2007, the Cypher sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) (Cordis Johnson & Johnson, Miami Lakes, Fla) had been deployed in >3 million patients worldwide,10 and the millionth Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) (Boston Scientific, Natick, Mass) was implanted as of January 2005.11 Over the past 2 years, numerous reports of very late stent thrombosis (ST) with first-generation DES have surfaced. This highly morbid complication and data suggesting that death and myocardial infarction (MI) may be more common with DES12,13 have altered the focus of trials and registries working to determine optimal DES use. There is a hope that second-generation DES will be less prone to ST as a result of differences in drug, stent design, and polymer. Medtronic, Inc (Minneapolis, Minn) presented safety and efficacy data to a public meeting of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Circulatory System Devices Panel (CSDP) in October 2007 on its Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES), seeking approval for the indication of treating de novo native coronary lesions ≤27 mm with reference vessel diameters of 2.5 to 3.5 mm. The FDA asked the CSDP to determine whether the data presented demonstrated a reasonable level of safety and effectiveness, with clinical benefits clearly outweighing short- and long-term risks of ZES use. Important efficacy end points included ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization (TLR) or target vessel revascularization (TVR); safety end points included death, MI, and ST. The …

Drug-eluting stents: An early systematic review to inform policy

Aims To provide systematic assessment of the clinical effectiveness of drug-eluting stents (DES) versus non-DES to inform national guidance. Methods and results The review was conducted according to internationally recognised methods. The search strategy identified published (7) and unpublished (7) randomised controlled trials comparing the use of DES to non-DES. Outcomes included death, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), revascularisation, event rate (composite of adverse events), and binary restenosis. Data synthesis included descriptive statistics and meta-analysis. Fourteen randomised clinical trials comparing DES to non-DES and involving 5747 patients were identified. There were reductions in event rates between DES and non-DES; odds ratio (OR) 0.63 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.47, 0.84, \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(n=1978\) \end{document}) for paclitaxel-eluting stents at 12 months, OR 0.30 (95% CI 0.22, 0.42, \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(n=1296\) \end{document}) for sirolimus-eluting stents at 12 months. Combined event rates were inconsistently defined across trials and were primarily composed of revascularisations, possibly driven by protocol-required angiograms. DES reduced binary restenosis rates at angiogram compared to non-DES. No significant differences in rates of death or AMI were identified. Conclusion The early data available indicate that DES reduce adverse cardiac events, mainly revascularisations. However, these data are limited in terms of patient numbers, length of follow-up, and method of outcome assessment. The evaluation of rapidly evolving technologies requires the inclusion of data not routinely considered for inclusion in systematic reviews of effectiveness.

Drug-eluting stents: an early systematic review to inform policy.

To provide systematic assessment of the clinical effectiveness of drug-eluting stents (DES) versus non-DES to inform national guidance. The review was conducted according to internationally recognised methods. The search strategy identified published (7) and unpublished (7) randomised controlled trials comparing the use of DES to non-DES. Outcomes included death, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), revascularisation, event rate (composite of adverse events), and binary restenosis. Data synthesis included descriptive statistics and meta-analysis. Fourteen randomised clinical trials comparing DES to non-DES and involving 5747 patients were identified. There were reductions in event rates between DES and non-DES; odds ratio (OR) 0.63 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.47, 0.84, n = 1978) for paclitaxel-eluting stents at 12 months, OR 0.30 (95% CI 0.22, 0.42, n = 1296) for sirolimus-eluting stents at 12 months. Combined event rates were inconsistently defined across trials and were primarily composed of revascularisations, possibly driven by protocol-required angiograms. DES reduced binary restenosis rates at angiogram compared to non-DES. No significant differences in rates of death or AMI were identified. The early data available indicate that DES reduce adverse cardiac events, mainly revascularisations. However, these data are limited in terms of patient numbers, length of follow-up, and method of outcome assessment. The evaluation of rapidly evolving technologies requires the inclusion of data not routinely considered for inclusion in systematic reviews of effectiveness.