RT Journal
A1 Nakao YM, Ueshima K, Teramukai S, et al
T1 COnsidering selection bias when developing a search strategy
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 2011
FD March 14
VO 171
IS 5
SP 471
OP 472
DO 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.45
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.45
AB 
The Candesartan Antihypertensive Survival Evaluation in Japan (CASE-J) trial, published in 2008,2 assessed cardiovascular outcomes in high-risk hypertensive patients receiving either candesartan or amlodipine. The primary end point of the CASE-J trial was a composite of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, including heart failure. We think that this trial meets the inclusion criteria in the meta-analysis by Sciarretta et al,1 but it was not included despite a careful search using 2 databases by 2 investigators. Also, neither the KYOTO HEART study3 nor the Heart Institute of Japan Candesartan Randomized Trial for Evaluation in Coronary Artery Disease (HIJ-CREATE)4 was included. The authors also checked in the references of a previous meta-analysis by Verdecchia et al.5 This could not be enough to identify all randomized controlled trials to evaluate a wide range of antihypertensive drugs because this previous meta-analysis by Verdecchia et al5 aimed to compare old antihypertensive drugs (diuretics and β-blockers) or placebo with new drugs (renin-angiotensin system inhibitors or calcium channel blockers). We are afraid that other important clinical trials are not included in the meta-analysis by Sciarretta et al.1