Table 2

Study Characteristics
Study No.	Author (s)	Year	Source	Publication Status	Inclusion Criteria Met	Reason for Exclusion

A	Bonifati et al. [19]	2000	Muscle and Nerve	Article	Yes	-
B	Angelini et al. [20]	1994	Muscle and Nerve	Article	Yes	-
C	Mesa et al. [21]	1991	Neuromuscular Disorders	Article	No	Not randomized.
D	Reitter [22]	1995	Brain and Development	Article	No	Interim report of a trial. No results by treatment given.
E	Luz et al. [23]	1982	Revista Chilena de Pediatria	Article	No	Not randomized.
F	Angelini et al. [24]	1998	Muscle and Nerve	Abstract	Yes	-
G	Angelini et al. [25]	1995	Neurology	Abstract	Yes	-
H	Reitter [26]	1995	Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology	Abstract	No	Interim report of a trial. No results by treatment given.
I	Winter et al. [27]	1999	Acta Myologica	Article	No	No strength or side effect data reported.
J	Rietter [28]	1995	Monatsschrift fur Kinderheilkunde	N/A	N/A	Not retrieved. Felt to be a duplicate publication.
K	Todorovic et al. [29]	1998	Muscle and Nerve	Abstract	No	DFZ not used.
L	Reitter [13]	1998	Neuromuscular Disorders	Meeting Proceeding	No	Report of randomized trial but no specific outcomes reported.
M	Dubrovsky et al. [30]	1999	Neurology	Abstract	No	Not randomized
N	Brooke [12]	1996	Neurology	Abstract	Yes	-
O	ENMC Workshop [31]	1997	Neuromuscular Disorders	Meeting Proceeding	No	Report of randomized trial but no specific outcomes reported.

ENMC = European Neuromuscular Centre
Campbell and Jacob BMC Neurology 2003 3:7 doi:10.1186/1471-2377-3-7