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.