Study selection process
We selected cohort studies and case control studies with patients who
had liver cirrhosis and were pregnant. Diagnoses of liver cirrhosis were
considered confirmed when based on biopsy findings or based on imaging
combined with laboratory findings. Cohorts or case control studies had
to include a minimum series of five patients with liver cirrhosis.
Results had to contain at least one item of one of the designated
outcome domains (see heading ‘outcome measurements’). We included
studies in the meta-analysis if they contained a control group. When our
search found papers which analyzed identical patient populations
multiple times, and which reported on identical outcomes, we selected
the most recent or most relevant study, and excluded the other studies
reporting on the same population. Other exclusion criteria were
non-human studies, studies outside pregnancy and case reports, case
series, opinions or reviews.
Two reviewers (LLS and RBT) independently screened the titles and
abstracts of studies retrieved by the database searches. We requested
the full text if a study was potentially relevant and performed
independent screening to assess eligibility in duplo on full text.
Disagreement about including a study were resolved through discussion or
by consulting a third reviewer (RCP).