Table 1.

Characteristic of the included studies in the meta-analysis

Author	Type of study	Study period	Country	Number of patients	Age (Mean ± SD) (Range)	Gender (M/F)	Smoking	Follow-up, Months (Mean ± SD)	Outcomes indexs	Complication
Salvi M et al. 2007 [14]	Cohort study	NA	Italy	9	44.8 ± 2.1 (31–51)	2/7	5	1	CAS, TRAbs, proptosis	3 nose and throat itching,mild temperature elevation
Vannucchi G et al. 2010 [17]	Cohort study	NA	Italy	10	46.6 ± 2.2 (31–54)	2/8	NA	12	TRAbs, IL-6	NA
Silkiss RZ et al. 2010 [16]	Cohort study	2007.1–2010.10	United States	12	52.1 (34–80)	5/7	4	12	CAS, TSH	No
Khanna D et al. 2010 [15]	Cohort study	2007.10.1–2009.2.1	United States	6	54.3 ± 9.1	2/4	3	7.5 ± 6.4	CAS, proptosis	1 urinary tract infection;1 hypertension;1 cardiac arrest
Mitchell AL et al. 2013 [18]	Cohort study	2008–2012	UK	9	62 (37–87)	1/8	NA	16	CAS	2 headache;1 headache and chills without pyrexia;1 mild myalgia
Savino G et al. 2013 [19]	Cohort study	NA	Italy	5	48 ± 12.1	3/2	3	18	CAS, proptosis	2 nausea and temperature elevation
Erdei A et al. 2014	Cohort study	NA	Hungary	5	47.8 ± 12.2 (31–64)	1/4	4	60	CAS, TRAbs, TSH	NA
McCoy AN et al. 2014 [21]	Cohort study	2007.10.1-?	United States	8	57 ± 6.63	3/5	4	18	CAS	NA
Stan MN et al. 2015 [23]	Randomized controlled trial	NA	United States	13	57.6 ± 12.7	4/9	2	13	CAS, TRAbs, proptosis	2 myalgias;2 skin rash and itching);1 infectious;1 vasculitis;2 optic neuropathy;1 severe lacrimation;2 gastrointestinal;
Salvi M et al. 2015 [22]	Randomized controlled trial	NA	Italy	15	51.9 ± 13.1	1/14	10	19	CAS, TRAbs, TSH, proptosis	1 orbital edema and decrease of vision;1 hypotension;1 myocardial infarction
Li J et al. 2017 [24]	Randomized controlled trial	NA	China	75	48.1 ± 10.0	25/50	15	10	CAS, proptosis, IL-6	1 flushing;9 nose and throat itching;2 dyspepsia;9 temperature elevation

NA not available