title: Moderator's view: Meta-analysis: the best knowledge but not always shining gold.
abstract: Meta-analysis has gained top status in medicine. Correctly so, well-performed meta-analysis is perceived as an unbeatable method for distilling first class medical knowledge. However, such a high status should in no way be considered as a guarantee that all information derived from meta-analyses is pure gold. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses not performed with due methodological attention abound and nephrology is not at all a protected territory. Herein I give concrete examples of meta-analyses published in major journals whose findings are not pure gold.
authors.affiliation: CNR-IFC Clinical Epidemiology and Pathophysiology of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, Reggio Cal Unit, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zoccali
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D003657:Decision Making; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D010820:Physicians / Q000639:trends*; D012196:Review Literature as Topic
keywords: CKD; meta-analysis; nephrology