The association of Raynaud syndrome with thromboangiitis obliterans--a meta-analysis.

Thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) has traditionally been included among the diseases associated with Raynaud syndrome (RS). The prevalence of RS in patients with TAO is not well defined. The objective of this meta-analysis is to assess the prevalence of RS in patients with TAO. A literature search was performed for the studies dealing with RS and TAO. The studies provided sufficient data to estimate the prevalence of RS in patients with TAO. A total of 8 eligible studies, contributing data on 851 patients, were included in this meta-analysis. For TAO, a pooled prevalence of 28.1% and 95% confidence interval ([CI] = 0.158, 0.423) were obtained. Statistically publication bias was not present (P = .232). Despite some heterogeneity, there is a possible indication of an association between RS and patients with TAO.