3.4.2 - Bilateral vs Unilateral DELC
Three studies investigated unilateral and bilateral DELC separately(4, 16, 17), two studies just looked at bilateral DELC(11, 13), two studies included both unilateral and
bilateral DELC combined (6, 18) and in five studies it
was not clear which was used. Whilst this raises concerns, it is noted
that in the three studies which compared bilateral and unilateral DELC,
unilateral DELC was found to have either a reduced association with CAD(17) or no significant association(4, 16). The breakdown is shown in Table 2. It is
therefore believed that in any studies that included unilateral DELC
with bilateral DELC, this would have had a diluting effect in the odds
ratio and association with CAD.