Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Around one per cent of the world's population has vitiligo, a disease which causes white patches on the skin. There are a variety of treatments available, most of which are unsatisfactory. ⋯ This review has found some evidence from individual studies to support existing therapies for vitiligo, but the usefulness of the findings is limited by the different designs and outcome measurements and lack of quality of life measures. There is a need for follow-up studies to assess permanence of repigmentation as well as high quality randomised trials using standardised measures and which also address quality of life.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisAntithyroid drug regimen for treating Graves' hyperthyroidism.
Antithyroid drugs are widely used in the therapy of hyperthyroidism. There are wide variations in the dose, regimen or duration of treatment used by health professionals. ⋯ The evidence suggests that the optimal duration of antithyroid drug therapy for the titration regimen is 12 to 18 months. The titration (low dose) regimen had fewer adverse effects than the block-replace (high dose) regimen and was no less effective. Continued thyroxine treatment following initial antithyroid therapy does not appear to provide any benefit in terms of recurrence of hyperthyroidism. Immunosuppressive therapies need further evaluation.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisEndovascular stents for intermittent claudication.
Endovascular stents have been suggested as a means to improve the patency of arteries after angioplasty in patients with intermittent claudication. This is an update of a Cochrane review published in 2002. ⋯ The small number of relevant studies identified together with the small sample sizes and methodological weaknesses severely limit the usefulness of this review in guiding practice. The results from larger multicentre trials are needed.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisMotivational interviewing for smoking cessation.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a directive patient-centred style of counselling, designed to help people to explore and resolve ambivalence about behaviour change. It was developed as a treatment for alcohol abuse, but may help smokers to a make a successful attempt to quit. ⋯ Motivational interviewing may assist smokers to quit. However, the results should be interpreted with caution due to variations in study quality, treatment fidelity and the possibility of publication or selective reporting bias.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisPhenobarbital prior to preterm birth for preventing neonatal periventricular haemorrhage.
Preterm infants are at risk of periventricular haemorrhage. Phenobarbital might prevent ischaemic injury or reduce fluctuations in blood pressure and blood flow in the brain. ⋯ The evidence in this review does not support the use of prophylactic maternal phenobarbital administration to prevent periventricular haemorrhage in preterm infants or to protect them from neurological disability in childhood. Phenobarbital administration may lead to maternal sedation. If any future trials are carried out, they should measure neurodevelopmental status at follow up.