Journal of hepatology
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Journal of hepatology · Mar 2008
Comparative Study Clinical TrialEarly switch to pentoxifylline in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis is inefficient in non-responders to corticosteroids.
In severe alcoholic hepatitis (AH), 40% of patients will obtain no benefit from corticosteroids. Improvement in management of non-responders is warranted and only pentoxifylline can be considered an alternative. A two-step strategy was evaluated consisting of early withdrawal of corticosteroids and a switch to pentoxifylline for 28 additional days in non-responders identified using early change in bilirubin level. ⋯ Non-responders to corticosteroids do not obtain any benefit from an early switch to pentoxifylline. Thus, the issue of management of non-responders remains unresolved.