Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2019
Meta AnalysisAntiplatelet agents for preventing pre-eclampsia and its complications.
Pre-eclampsia is associated with deficient intravascular production of prostacyclin, a vasodilator, and excessive production of thromboxane, a vasoconstrictor and stimulant of platelet aggregation. These observations led to the hypotheses that antiplatelet agents, low-dose aspirin in particular, might prevent or delay development of pre-eclampsia. ⋯ Administering low-dose aspirin to pregnant women led to small-to-moderate benefits, including reductions in pre-eclampsia (16 fewer per 1000 women treated), preterm birth (16 fewer per 1000 treated), the baby being born small-for-gestational age (seven fewer per 1000 treated) and fetal or neonatal death (five fewer per 1000 treated). Overall, administering antiplatelet agents to 1000 women led to 20 fewer pregnancies with serious adverse outcomes. The quality of evidence for all these outcomes was high. Aspirin probably slightly increased the risk of postpartum haemorrhage of more than 500 mL, however, the quality of evidence for this outcome was downgraded to moderate, due to concerns of clinical heterogeneity in measurements of blood loss. Antiplatelet agents probably marginally increase placental abruption, but the quality of the evidence was downgraded to moderate due to low event numbers and thus wide 95% CI. Overall, antiplatelet agents improved outcomes, and at these doses appear to be safe. Identifying women who are most likely to respond to low-dose aspirin would improve targeting of treatment. As almost all the women in this review were recruited to the trials after 12 weeks' gestation, it is unclear whether starting treatment before 12 weeks' would have additional benefits without any increase in adverse effects. While there was some indication that higher doses of aspirin would be more effective, further studies would be warranted to examine this.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2019
Meta AnalysisCombined proximal descending aortic endografting plus distal bare metal stenting (PETTICOAT technique) versus conventional proximal descending aortic stent graft repair for complicated type B aortic dissections.
Aortic dissection is a separation of the aortic wall, caused by blood flowing through a tear in the inner layer of the aorta. Aortic dissection is an infrequent but life-threatening condition. The incidence of aortic dissection is 3 to 6 per 10,000 per year in the Western population, and can be up to 43 per 10,000 per year in the Eastern population. Over 20% of people with an aortic dissection do not reach a hospital alive. After admission, the mortality rates for people with an aortic dissection are between 10% and 20% for those who received endovascular treatment, and between 20% and 30% for those who had open surgery. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is the standard endovascular method to treat complicated type B aortic dissection (aortic dissections without involvement of the ascending aorta). Although TEVAR is less invasive than open surgery and has a better long-term aortic remodeling effect than conservative medical treatment, favourable aortic remodelling is usually limited to the thoracic aortic segment. TEVAR cannot be extended into the abdominal aorta because it could cover the ostia of the reno-visceral arteries. Thus, the abdominal aorta is still at risk of progressive aneurysmal degeneration. The PETTICOAT (provisional extension to induce complete attachment) technique, with proximal endograft and distal bare metal stent, was proposed in 2006 to address this issue. The concept of this technique was to implant a distal bare metal stent into the aortic true lumen, distal to the proximal endograft, to stabilize the distal collapsed intimal flap, while allowing blood flow to reno-visceral arteries. Therefore, the PETTICOAT technique was considered to be related to a more extensive aortic remodelling for people with type B aortic dissection, especially in the area of the abdominal aorta. However, it is still unclear whether the PETTICOAT technique is superior to standard TEVAR. ⋯ We identified no randomised controlled trials and therefore cannot draw any definite conclusion on this topic. Evidence from non-randomised studies appears to be favourable in the short-term, for combined proximal descending aortic endografting plus distal bare metal stenting (PETTICOAT technique) to solve the problem of unfavourable distal aortic remodeling. Randomised controlled trials are warranted to provide solid evidence on this topic. Evidence from cohort studies with large sample sizes would also be helpful in guiding clinical practice.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2019
Meta AnalysisOxandrolone for growth hormone-treated girls aged up to 18 years with Turner syndrome.
The final adult height of untreated girls aged up to 18 years with Turner syndrome (TS) is approximately 20 cm shorter compared with healthy females. Treatment with growth hormone (GH) increases the adult height of people with TS. The effects of adding the androgen, oxandrolone, in addition to GH are unclear. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review to investigate the benefits and harms of oxandrolone as an adjuvant therapy for people with TS treated with GH. ⋯ Addition of oxandrolone to the GH therapy led to a modest increase in the final adult height of girls aged up to 18 years with TS. Adverse effects identified included virilising effects such as deepening of the voice, but reporting was inadequate in some trials.
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Pityriasis rosea is a scaly, itchy rash that mainly affects young adults and lasts for 2 to 12 weeks. The effects of many available treatments are uncertain. This is an update of a Cochrane Review first published in 2007. ⋯ When compared with placebo or no treatment, oral acyclovir probably leads to increased good or excellent, medical practitioner-rated rash improvement. However, evidence for the effect of acyclovir on itch was inconclusive. We found low- to moderate-quality evidence that erythromycin probably reduces itch more than placebo. Small study sizes, heterogeneity, and bias in blinding and selective reporting limited our conclusions. Further research is needed to investigate different dose regimens of acyclovir and the effect of antivirals on pityriasis rosea.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2019
Meta AnalysisInterventions to reduce Staphylococcus aureus in the management of eczema.
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can cause secondary infection in eczema, and may promote inflammation in eczema that does not look infected. There is no standard intervention to reduce S. aureus burden in eczema. It is unclear whether antimicrobial treatments help eczema or promote bacterial resistance. This is an update of a 2008 Cochrane Review. ⋯ We found insufficient evidence on the effects of anti-staphylococcal treatments for treating people with infected or uninfected eczema. Low-quality evidence, due to risk of bias, imprecise effect estimates and heterogeneity, made pooling of results difficult. Topical steroid/antibiotic combinations may be associated with possible small improvements in good or excellent signs/symptoms compared with topical steroid alone. High-quality trials evaluating efficacy, QOL, and antibiotic resistance are required.