Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40106516›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2025

Gallstones as a predictor of elevated cardiovascular disease risk: A meta-analysis and meta-regression of over 7.4 million participants.

Refli Hasan, Fatemeh Allahbakhshi, Andrey D Shlyk, Khadija Allahbakhshi

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Refli HasanDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia.
Fatemeh AllahbakhshiDepartment of Cardiology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Andrey D ShlykDepartment of Prosthetic Dentistry, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russia.
Khadija AllahbakhshiDepartment of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5945-1420

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionGallstone disease (GD) is a prevalent condition frequently encountered in surgical units worldwide. The objective of this comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis study was to examine the relationship between gallstones and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

methodsTo conduct our study, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. We gathered relevant studies from reputable databases, including Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane, Google Scholar, and Embase. The quality of the articles was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale checklist. To assess heterogeneity among the studies, we utilized statistical tests such as the Chi-square test, I² statistic, and forest plots. Meta-regression analysis considered variables such as the year of the study, study design, sample size, study quality assessment score, geographical region, average age of subjects, and follow-up duration. Additionally, we evaluated publication bias using Begg's and Egger's tests.

resultsData from 22 studies conducted between 1985 and 2023 were analyzed. The combined number of participants across these studies was 7,496,303. The meta-analysis results revealed that individuals with GD had a higher risk of CVDs (Risk Ratio (RR): 1.29; 95% CI: 1.22-1.36; P <  0.001). Subgroup analysis showed consistent results across good quality studies (RR: 1.20, 95% CI: 11.12-1.28; P <  0.001), moderate quality studies (RR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.15-1.74; P <  0.001), and low-quality studies (RR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.15-1.30; P <  0.001). In the meta-regression analysis, none of the variables had a significant relationship with the observed heterogeneity (P-value > 0.10). In a sensitivity analysis, the estimated RR remained consistent, confirming the robustness of the meta-analysis results.

conclusionOur findings suggest an association between gallstone disease and an increased risk of CVDs. It seems that one of the important factors of this relationship is having common causes for the formation of gallstones and cardiovascular diseases. However, gallstones can be considered an important sign of increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesGallstonesHumansRegression AnalysisRisk Factors

Identifiers

PMID40106516
PMCPMC11922230

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.