Outcomes following surgical interventions for hypothalamic hamartomas: protocol for a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis
IntroductionHypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) are deep-seated congenital lesions that typically lead to pharmacoresistant epilepsy and a catastrophic encephalopathic syndrome characterised by severe neuropsychological impairment and decline in quality of life. A variety of surgical approaches and techno...
Saved in:
Published in | BMJ open Vol. 14; no. 2; p. e080870 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
British Medical Journal Publishing Group
12.02.2024
BMJ Publishing Group LTD BMJ Publishing Group |
Series | Protocol |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | IntroductionHypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) are deep-seated congenital lesions that typically lead to pharmacoresistant epilepsy and a catastrophic encephalopathic syndrome characterised by severe neuropsychological impairment and decline in quality of life. A variety of surgical approaches and technologies are available for the treatment of HH-related pharmacoresistant epilepsy. There remains, however, a paucity of literature directly comparing their relative efficacy and safety. This protocol aims to facilitate a systematic review and meta-analysis that will characterise and compare the probability of seizure freedom and relevant postoperative complications across different surgical techniques performed for the treatment of HH-related pharmacoresistant epilepsy.Methods and analysisThis protocol was developed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Individual Participant Data guidelines. Three major databases, PubMed, Embase and Scopus, will be systematically searched from database inception and without language restrictions for relevant articles using our predefined search strategy. Title–abstract and full text screening using inclusion and exclusion criteria created a priori will be performed by two independent reviewers to identify eligible articles. Conflicts will be resolved via discussion with a third team member. Following data extraction of both study-level and individual patient data (IPD), a study-level and IPD meta-analysis will be performed. Study-level analysis will focus on assessing the degree of heterogeneity in the data and quantifying overall seizure outcomes for each surgical technique. The IPD analysis will use multivariable regression to determine perioperative predictors of seizure freedom and complications that can guide patient and technique selection.Ethics and disseminationThis work will not require ethics approval as it will be solely based on previously published and available data. The results of this review will be shared via conference presentation and submission to peer-reviewed neurosurgical journals.PROSPERO registrationCRD42022378876. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | Protocol ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 2044-6055 2044-6055 |
DOI: | 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080870 |