Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Retrospective survival data have suggested poor effectiveness of oxygen therapy in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD). ⋯ The assumption that home oxygen therapy has a beneficial survival effect in patients with ILD has not been demonstrated in the single RCT identified.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2001
ReviewAminopyridines for symptomatic treatment in multiple sclerosis.
Because of their ability to increase nerve conduction in demyelinated nerve fibers, potassium channel blockers 4-aminopyridine (AP) and 3,4-diaminopyridine (DAP) have been proposed as a symptomatic therapy for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). ⋯ Based on currently available information, no unbiased statement can be made about the safety or efficacy of aminopyridines for treating MS symptoms. Furthermore, we could not obtain any data on three unpublished RCTs involving more than 300 participants. We conclude that publication bias remains a pervasive problem in this area, and that until the results of these unpublished studies are available to the scientific community, no confident estimate of effectiveness of aminopyridines in the management of MS symptoms is possible.
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This is one of a series of reviews of methods of cervical ripening and labour induction using standardised methodology. ⋯ The studies in this review are limited by their small sample sizes which are in many cases further divided into multiple comparison groups. The analyses resulted in most comparisons showing no significant differences, with wide confidence intervals. Although extra-amniotic prostaglandins may be as effective as other modalities in initiating labour, there is little conclusive information from this review to guide clinical practice. An adequately powered randomised controlled trial would be useful to determine if the use of extra-amniotic prostaglandins would lower the rate of caesarean section. However, in the time since these studies were undertaken the use of extra-amniotic prostaglandins has largely been replaced by other modes of prostaglandin administration.
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The role of second-line chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have relapsed or failed to respond to first-line treatment was unclear. ⋯ Definitive recommendations cannot be made since evidence is only available from one randomised controlled trial which, though of reasonable quality, had a number of limitations. There is currently no evidence to support second-line treatment of patients with poor performance status. Larger, well-designed controlled trials are needed to further evaluate whether the benefits of second-line chemotherapy to patients with NSCLC outweigh its risks and costs.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2001
ReviewOestrogens alone or with amniotomy for cervical ripening or induction of labour.
Studies in sheep showed that there is a pre-labour rise in oestrogen and a decrease in progesterone, both of these changes stimulate prostaglandin production and may help initiate labour. Though oestrogen has been suggested as an effective cervical ripening or induction agent, research in humans have failed to demonstrate a similar physiological mechanism. The use of oestrogen as an induction agent is not currently common practice, as such this systematic review should be regarded as an historical review. This is one of a series of reviews of methods of cervical ripening and labour induction using a standardised methodology. ⋯ There were insufficient data to draw any conclusions regarding the efficacy of oestrogen as an induction agent.