Letter to the editor

Excerpt

Systematic review and meta-analysis are the cornerstones of evidence-based medicine. Few would deny that a more evidence-based approach has been one of the most significant contributors to progress in medicine over the last two decades. However, the processes that underlie evidence-based medicine depend on the evidence being available for analysis. The meta-analysis “industry” has provided numerous publications and citations for authors, both eminent and otherwise. There can sometimes appear to be a rush to publish a meta-analysis even when only one or two randomised control trials have been presented. This phenomenon is particularly prevalent when the topic in question is “hot” as is the case for use of time lapse photography for determination of embryo quality. This new technology has attracted considerable commercial investment and generated great interest amongst embryologists and fertility specialists as well as patients. Several retrospective studies have suggested that the “best” embryo can be identified using video time lapse photography but, to date, prospective well-designed randomised trials to test this hypothesis have been few in number. …