1.
The Efficacy of High-Dose Dexamethasone vs. Other Treatments for Newly Diagnosed Immune Thrombocytopenia: A Meta-Analysis
Xiao Q, Lin B, Wang H, Zhan W, Chen P
Frontiers in medicine. 2021;8:656792
Abstract
Objective: To compare the therapeutic efficacies of high dose dexamethasone, prednisone and rituximab in combination with dexamethasone for newly diagnosed ITP (Immune Thrombocytopenia, ITP) patients. Methods and results: Relevant publications for this study were obtained by searching PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and CNKI (National Knowledge Infrastructure, CNKI) databases following the PRISMA guidelines. A total of, 15 publications were retrieved that contained sufficient data from 1,362 patients for high quality analysis of this study endpoints. Data analysis was carried out using Stata 11.0 software. The primary outcomes were OR (Overall Response, OR) at 1 month after intervention and SR at 6 and 12 months. The secondary outcomes were AEs and relapse. There were no differences in the OR, while the SR was higher at 6 months (p = 0.001) as well as 12 months (p < 0.001) in the rituximab + dexamethasone group. In addition, the incidences of AEs (p = 0.008) were also higher in the rituximab + dexamethasone group. Dexamethasone was superior to prednisone based on OR (p = 0.006). We found no differences in SR at 6 months between dexamethasone and prednisone but SR at 12 months was higher in the dexamethasone group (p = 0.014). The relapse rate was higher in the high dose dexamethasone group compared to the rituximab + dexamethasone group (p = 0.042). Conclusion: This demonstrated that new treatment options such as Rituximab + dexamethasone, could be a good alternative to traditional therapy in improving long-term response and reducing the rate of relapse. However, further studies are required on the increased risk of AEs associated with Rituximab + dexamethasone.
2.
Platelet rich plasma versus hyaluronic acid in patients with hip osteoarthritis: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Ye Y, Zhou X, Mao S, Zhang J, Lin B
International Journal of Surgery (London, England). 2018;53:279-287
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study aims to compare the efficacy of intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for treating hip osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS We performed systematic searches in PubMed, EmBase, ScienceDirect Web of science and the Cochrane Library for relevant literature published in or before February 2018. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. The risk of bias assessment was performed using the tool recommended in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (version 5.1.0). We used STATA 14.0 (College Station, TX, USA) to analyze the data. RESULTS A total of 287 records were identified by the initial database search. Finally, 4 RCTs were included in our study. The present meta-analysis indicated that PRP was associated with a significant reduction of VAS score at 2 months compared with HA. However, it did not show significantly better outcomes at 6 and 12 months. There was no significant difference regarding the WOMAC and HHS at a 12-month follow up. No increased risk of adverse effects were observed. CONCLUSION Intra-articular injection of PRP was associated with a significant reduction of VAS at 2 months. Both of them showed comparable results in terms of functional recovery. Further studies were still necessary.