A Cochrane review on brain [18F]FDG PET in dementia: limitations and future perspectives

Ref ID	179
First Author	S. Morbelli
Journal	EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MOLECULAR IMAGING
Year Of Publishing	2015
URL	https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00259-015-3098-2.pdf
Keywords	Cochrane Missing data Mental health Error Heterogeneity Radiology Searching
Problem(s)	Weaknesses identified in some Cochrane reviews Perpetuates citation of poor quality primary study data Inadequate analysis of heterogeneity Errors in study inclusion or omission of relevant studies Outdated searches
Number of systematic reviews included	1
Summary of Findings	The authors disagree with the conclusions of the Cochrane review of brain FDG-PET in dementia published in 2015 for several reasons. They state that the patients in the included studies were not representative of the target population, that the included studies' designs and effect sizes were too heterogenous to allow meaningful synthesis and also that they were prone to small-study effects. The authors highlight that 17 relevant studies were published nearer to the time of publication (up to March 2015) of the Cochrane review but the search period only covered up to January 2015. An additional two relevant studies were stated to be omitted from the Cochrane review that were published in 2012.
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results?	Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study?