Eligibility criteria
Eligible studies were those in which cardiovascular function had been
assessed in humans who had been exposed to ACS during fetal life in
comparison to those not receiving steroids, those receiving a placebo or
population data. Studies not performed in humans or which did not assess
cardiovascular function were excluded. Randomised trials and
observational studies (cohort and case-control) were included, as were
case series with n≥3. There is no accepted numerical definition of a
case series13. We used an empirical cut-off of at
least three cases however, because of the risk of publication bias with
individual case reports. Systematic and narrative reviews were excluded
after checking reference lists for primary studies. Publications from
1990 to January 2021 were considered eligible and no language
restrictions were applied.