Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Aug 2013
Review Meta AnalysisTripterygium wilfordii Hook F (a traditional Chinese medicine) for primary nephrotic syndrome.
Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine used as an immunosuppressive agent, has been prescribed in China for patients with primary nephrotic syndrome (NS) for more than two decades. Although patients with primary NS in China have benefited from TwHF treatment, its properties have not yet been fully understood. ⋯ TwHF may have an add-on effect on remission in patients with primary NS. There was insufficient evidence to assess if TwHF was as effective as prednisone or CPA. More methodologically sound and sufficiently powered studies, with adequate follow-up would help to better inform management options for the use of TwHF for primary NS. TwHF should be further directly compared with other widely used immunosuppressive agents after the superiority over placebo or no treatment has been clearly established.
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Percutaneous balloon angioplasty is an endovascular technique for restoring blood flow through an artery that has become narrowed or blocked by atherosclerosis. Narrowing of the artery following angioplasty (restenosis) is the major cause of long-term failure. Cryoplasty offers a different approach to improving long-term angioplasty results. It combines the dilation force of balloon angioplasty with cooling of the vessel wall. This systematic review evaluated cryoplasty in peripheral arterial disease and provides focus for further research in the field. This is an update of a review first published in 2007. ⋯ The benefit of cryoplasty over conventional angioplasty cannot be established as the number of randomised controlled trials is small and their quality is not sufficiently high. The technical success and primary patency rates seen in these trials are inconsistent and do not necessarily suggest a future role for cryoplasty in the treatment of PAD, but they cannot be reliably interpreted. Currently there are insufficient data to support the routine use of cryoplasty over conventional balloon angioplasty in the treatment of PAD.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Aug 2013
Review Meta AnalysisAutologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation following high dose chemotherapy for non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas.
Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a highly heterogeneous group of rare malignant solid tumors. Non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas (NRSTS) comprise all STS except rhabdomyosarcoma. In patients with advanced local or metastatic disease, autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) applied after high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) is a planned rescue therapy for HDCT-related severe hematologic toxicity. The rationale for this update is to determine whether any randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been conducted and to clarify whether HDCT followed by autologous HSCT has a survival advantage. ⋯ A single RCT with a low risk of bias shows that OS after HDCT followed by autologous HSCT is not statistically significantly different from standard-dose chemotherapy. Therefore, HDCT followed by autologous HSCT for patients with NRSTS may not improve the survival of patients and should only be used within controlled trials if ever considered.
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated, inflammatory, demyelinating, neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system, and it causes major socioeconomic burden for the individual patient and for society. An inflammatory pathology occurs during the early relapsing stage of MS and a neurodegenerative pathology dominates the later progressive stage of the disease. Not all MS patients respond adequately to currently available disease-modifying drugs (DMDs). Alternative MS treatments with new modes of action are required to expand the current options for disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and to aim for freedom from relapses, inflammatory lesions, disability progression and neurodegeneration. Laquinimod has dual properties of immunomodulation and neuroprotection and is a potentially promising new oral DMD in the treatment of relapsing MS. ⋯ We found low-level evidence for the use of laquinimod as a disease-modifying therapy for MS because only one study with limited quality (high risk of attrition bias) was included. The published study suggests that laquinimod at a dose of 0.6 mg orally administered once daily may be safe and have potential benefits for most patients with RRMS in the short term. We are waiting for the publication of ongoing trials.