Table 1.
Study design characteristics of the included studies
| Study author | Year of publication/Journal | Study period | Country of origin* | Type of study† | Department first author | Type of data collection | Ethical approval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellsmere [18] | 2005/Surg Endosc | Jan 1999-March 2002 | USA | Multi-centre | Surgery | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Imbriaco [19] | 2005/AJR Am J Roentgenol | Sept 2001-Feb 2003 | Italy | Multi-centre | Radiology | Prospective | YES (informed consent) |
| Karmazanovsky [20] | 2005/Abdom Imaging | 1994-2003 | Russia | Single-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Li [21] | 2005/J Comput Assist Tomogr | Dec 2001-Feb 2004 | China | Single-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Phoa [22] | 2005/J Surg Oncol | Feb 1997-Jul 1999 | The Netherlands | Single-centre | Radiology | Prospective study (retrospective evaluation) | UNCLEAR |
| Imbriaco [23] | 2006/Radiol Med | Sept 2001-March 2004 | Italy | Single-centre | Radiology | Unclear | UNCLEAR |
| Tamm [24] | 2006/Abdom Imaging | Not available | USA | Single-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | YES |
| Kala [25] | 2007/Eur J Radiol | Not available | Czech Republic | Multi-centre | Surgery | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Olivie [26] | 2007/JOP | Feb 2003-Jun 2004 | Canada | Multi-centre | Radiology | Prospective | YES (informed consent) |
| Smith [27] | 2007/Pancreas | March 2002-March 2005 | UK | Single-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Zamboni [28] | 2007/Radiology | March 2003-March 2006 | USA | Single-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | YES |
| Furukawa [29] | 2008/Arch Surg | Sept 2002-March 2005 | Japan | Single-centre | Radiology | Prospective | YES |
| Klauss [30] | 2008/Pancreatology | March 2005-Aug 2006 | Germany | Multi-centre | Radiology | Prospective (retrospective evaluation) | YES (informed consent) |
| Shah [31] | 2008/J Surg Res | NA | USA | Single-centre | Surgery | Retrospective | YES |
| Manak [32] | 2009/Abdom Imaging | Jan 2000-Jul 2005 | Germany | Multicentre | Radiology | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Park [33] | 2009/J Magn Reson Imaging | Jan 2004-Jul 2008 | Korea | Multi-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | YES |
| Satoi [34] | 2009/Hepatogastroenterology | Jan 2000-Apr 2005 | Japan | Single-centre | Surgery | Retrospective | YES (informed consent) |
| Croome [35] | 2010/Can J Surg | Jan 2005-Dec 2006 | Canada | Multi-centre | Surgery | Retrospective | YES |
| Grieser [36] | 2010/Acta Radiologica | Jan 2002- Jan 2007 | Germany | Single-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | YES |
| Grossjohann [37] | 2010/Scand J Gastroenterology | Dec 2005-Dec 2007 | Denmark | Multi-centre | Radiology | Prospective (retrospective evaluation) | YES |
| Kaneko [38] | 2010/J Comput Assist Tomogr | Jan 2000-March 2009 | USA | Multi-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | YES |
| Lee [39] | 2010/Eur J Radiol | Jan 2003- Jun 2005 | Korea | Multi-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Koelblinger [40] | 2011/Radiology | Sept 2006-Nov 2007 | Austria | Multi-centre | Radiology | Prospective (IC) | YES |
| Fang [41] | 2012/Pancreatology | Nov 2008-Aug 2010 | China | Multi-centre | Surgery | Prospective (retrospective evaluation) | YES |
| Khattab [42] | 2012/The Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine | Dec 2009-Aug 2011 | Egypt | Single-centre | Radiology | Prospective (IC) | YES |
| Yao [43] | 2012/ANZ J Surg | Dec 2006-Jul 2009 | Australia | Multi-centre | Surgery | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Cieslak [44] | 2014/Pancreatology | Jan 2007-Dec 2010 | The Netherlands | Multi-centre | Gastroenterology | Retrospective | UNCLEAR |
| Hassanen [45] | 2014/The Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine | Oct 2010-March 2013 | Egypt | Single-centre | Radiology | Prospective (IC) | YES |
| Iscanli [46] | 2014/Turk J Gastroenterol | NA | Turkey | Single-centre | Radiology | Retrospective | YES |
*Country of origin of first author. † Implies involvement of authors form different centers, not particular the involvement of patients form different centers