Table 1. Characteristics of publications included in the meta-analysis.

Author(s)	Publication year	Study location	Study period	Number of cases/controlsa	Treatment status	Exposure source	Adjustment variablesb
Case–control studies
Tikkanen and Honein [37]	1990	Finland	1982–1983	408/756	Untreated	Self-reported	A, B, C. D, E, F, G, and I
Ferencz et al. [18]	1993	USA	1981–1989	3377/3572	Untreated and treated	Self-reported	A, E, G, H, J, K, and I
Sorensen et al. [36]	2001	Hungary	1980–1996	4467/38,151	Treated	Self-reported	A, B, J, and M
Kallen and Ollauson [22]	2003	Sweden	1995–2001	5015/577,730	Treated	Self-reported	A, E, O, and M
Caton et al. [8]	2009	USA	1997–2003	5021/4796	Untreated and treated	Self-reported	A, B, H, M, U, V, and W
Nakhai-Pour [32]	2010	Canada	2009–2010	1441/54,878	Treated	Medical records	No
Banhidy et al. [4]	2011	Hungary	1980–1996	4480/22,843	Untreated	Medical records	A, G, J, M, and X
Zen et al. [41]	2011	Brazil	2005–2007	250/303	Untreated and treated	Self-report	No
Vereczkey et al. [39]c	2013	Hungary	1980–1996	77/38,151	Untreated	Self-reported	A and M
Cohort studies
Cooper et al. [12]	2006	USA	1985–2000	305/29,507	Treated	Medical records	A, B, H, P, Q and R
Schoendorfer et al. [35].	2008	Europe	1986–2003	7/1098	Treated	Self-reported	No
Malm et al. [28]	2008	Finland	1996–2001	<11/348,989	Treated	Medical records	A, G, J, and M
Lennestal et al. [25]	2009	Sweden	1995–2006	12,660/1,030,703	Treated	Self-reported	A, M, R, S, T and U
Davis et al. [14]	2011	USA	1996–2000	506/49,836	Treated	Medical records	No
Li et al. [26]	2011	USA	1995–2008	7700/465,754	Untreated and treated	Medical records	A, H, M, V and U
Liu et al. [27]	2013	Canada	2002–2010	2377/2,278,838	Untreated	Medical records	A, B, D, I, L, M, N, S, U, V, and Y

^aNumber of subjects with/without heart defects are listed when the study was not a case–control study

^bAdjustment variables: A maternal age, B maternal illness, C maternal ultrasound examination, D hypertension prior to index pregnancy, E maternal smoking, F maternal deodorant use, G maternal occupation, H maternal race/ethnicity, I alcohol consumption, J therapeutic drugs, K life style exposure, L region of birth, M parity, N multiple gestational pregnancy, O years of involuntary childlessness, P rural residence, Q income quartile, R maternal year of birth, S tobacco use, T previous miscarriage, U maternal body mass index, V gestational diabetes/preexisting diabetes, W use of fertility medication/procedure, X use of folic acid during pregnancy, Y infant sex

^cThis paper only evaluated atrioventricular canal defects