Rapamycin and its analogues (rapalogs) for Tuberous Sclerosis Complex-associated tumors: a systematic review on non-randomized studies using meta-analysis

Table 2 Risk of bias assessment of included studies

Studies	Representativeness of exposed cohort	Selection of non-exposed cohort	Ascertainment of exposure	Demonstration	Comparability	Assessment of outcome	Follow-up long enough^a	Adequacy of follow-up^b	Total score
Case Reports
Franz 2006	Somewhat representative^*	No non-exposed cohort	Secure record^*	Yes^*	No	Record linkage^*	Variable	Complete^*	5
Wienecke 2006	Somewhat representative^*	No non-exposed cohort	Secure record^*	Yes^*	No	Record linkage^*	Yes^*	Complete^*	6
Birca 2010	Somewhat representative^*	No non-exposed cohort	Secure record^*	Yes^*	No	Record linkage^*	Unclear	Complete^*	5
Lam 2010	Somewhat representative^*	No non-exposed cohort	Secure record^*	Yes^*	No	Record linkage^*	Yes^*	Complete^*	6
Cohort Prospective
Krueger 2010	Truly representative^*	No non-exposed cohort	Secure record^*	Yes^*	No	Record linkage^*	Yes^*	Complete^*	6
Dabora 2011	Truly representative^*	No non-exposed cohort	Secure record^*	Yes^*	No	Record linkage^*	Yes^*	8 out of 36 lost follow-up (22 %)^*	6
Davies 2011	Truly representative^*	No non-exposed cohort	Secure record^*	Yes^*	No	Record linkage^*	Yes^*	4 out of 16 lost follow-up (25 %)^*	6
Lopez 2011	Truly representative^*	No non-exposed cohort	Secure record^*	Yes^*	No	Record linkage^*	Yes^*	1 out of 17 lost follow-up (5 %)^*	6

^aLength of follow-up of at least 6 months is considered sufficient
^bLost of follow-up <30 % is considered acceptable; *Indicates point that contribute to Total Score

ISSN: 1750-1172