CONTROLLED TRIAL OF 6-METHYLPREDNISOLONE IN ACUTE ALCOHOLIC HEPATITIS - NOTE ON PUBLISHED RESULTS IN ENCEPHALOPATHIC PATIENTS

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 69  (4) , 443-449
Abstract
In a prospective double-blind study, 27 patients wth alcoholic hepatitis were randomized for 6-methylprednisolone (12 patients) or placebo treatment (15 patients). The mortality was 50% among steroid treated patients and 47% in the control group (P > .05). The role of liver biopsy feasibility at selection is emphasized since the mortality in this group was 10% as opposed to 71% when the procedure was contraindicated (P < .01). Complications in the steroid-treated subjects were similar quantitatively and qualitatively to those observed in the control series. Examination of published reports of mortality in earlier controlled trials suggests a modest trend in favor of corticosteroid therapy for an encephalopathic subgroup of patients but additional data are required for verification.

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