Table 1.
Characteristics of the eligible studies.
| Author (year of publication) | Duration of patient recruitment | Institution | Study design | MS patients (n) | Mean age (years) | Female:Male |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Zandi SH, et al.6 (2018) | 2016.4–2017.3 | Al-Imamain Al-Kadhymain Medical City, Iraq | NA | 30 | 40.8 (22–58) | 7:23 |
| Campion T, et al.7 (2017) | NA | The Royal London Hospital, UK | retrospective | 25 | 41 | 14:11 |
| Cortese R, et al.8 (2018) | NA | Walton Centre and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UK | prospective | 18 | 41.8 | 4:14 |
| Darwish EAF, et al.9 (2018) | NA | Ain Shams University, Egypt | NA | 9 | 33 (26–45) | 2:7 |
| Gabr RE, et al.10 (2018) | NA | University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA | prospective | 15 | 43 (26–62) | 6:9 |
| Gaitan MI, et al.11 (2013) | NA | National Institutes of Health, USA | NA | 8 | 37.1 | 2:6 |
| George IC, et al.12 (2016) | NA | National Institutes of Health, USA | NA | 68 | 46 | 36:32 |
| Grabner G, et al.13 (2011) | NA | Medical University of Vienna, Austria | NA | 8 | NA | NA |
| Hosseini Z, et al.14 (2018) | NA | University of Western Ontario, Canada | retrospective | 17 | 39.4 (26–46) | 6:11 |
| Kau T, et al.15 (2013) | NA | Klinikum Klagenfurt, Austria | prospective | 5 | 47 (20–57) | 1:4 |
| Lamot U, et al.16 (2017) | NA | University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia | retrospective | 34 | 39.6 (21–66) | 9:25 |
| Lane JI, et al.17 (2015) | 18 months | Mayo Clinic, USA | retrospective | 21 | 46 | 5:16 |
| Lummel N, et al.18 (2011) | NA | University of Munich, Germany | prospective | 15 | 48.4 | 3:12 |
| Luo J, et al.19 (2014) | NA | Washington University, USA | NA | 30 | 51.5 (27–70) | 14:16 |
| Maggi P, et al.20 (2018) | 2015.1–2017.6 | Multicenter (four academic research hospitals) | NA | 52 | 41 (20–65) | 18:34 |
| Mistry N, et al.21 (2016) | NA | Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK | prospective | 23 | 45.5 (25–66) | 13:10 |
| Oztoprak B, et al.22 (2016) | 2013.9–2014.9 | Cumhuriyet University School of Medicine, Turkey | retrospective | 38 | 34.3 | 5:33 |
| Sinnecker T, et al.23 (2012) | NA | NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Germany | prospective | 18 | 41 (27–53) | 7:11 |
| Solomon AJ, et al.24 (2018) | NA | University of Vermont, USA | NA | 20 | 43.5 | 2:18 |
| Sparacia G, et al.25 (2018) | 2016.12–2017.4 | University of Palermo, Italy | retrospective | 19 | 36.9 (19–53) | 9:10 |
| Tallantyre EC, et al.26 (2011) | 2007.8–2009.8 | Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK | NA | 28 | 46.5 | 16:12 |
MS = multiple sclerosis, NA = not available.