Carotid intima-media thickness in patients with hyperuricemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Despite the high incidence and mortality of cardiovascular events in hyperuricemia patients, the role of serum uric acid in cardiovascular diseases is still controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis was to explore the difference of carotid intima-media thickness in hyperuricemia and control groups. We performed this meta-analysis by searching the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science databases up to July 2020. The 95% confidence intervals and standard mean differences were calculated to analyze the differences in carotid intima-media thickness in hyperuricemia groups and control groups. Sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore the sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated by funnel plot and Begg’s regression test. We used Stata 14.0 software to complete our analyses. A total of 8 articles were included. The results showed that there was a significant increase in carotid intima-media thickness in the hyperuricemia groups compared with the control groups [SMD = 0.264, 95% CI (0.161–0.366), P