Liaw 1993.
| Methods | Generation of the allocation sequence: unclear (not reported). Allocation concealment: unclear (not reported). Blinding: no blinding. Follow‐up: Unclear. Follow‐up was 24 months after treatment. Three patients did not complete treatment in the interferon group as they were considered as drop‐outs. | |
| Participants | 48 patients from Taiwan with chronic 'non‐A, non‐B' hepatitis.
Inclusion criteria: patients aged 18 years or older and with persistent elevations of ALT for at least a year and histologic features on liver biopsy compatible with chronic 'non‐A, non‐B' hepatitis. Exclusion criteria: chronic hepatitis due to other etiologies, such as alcohol, Wilson's disease or autoimmune hepatitis. Patients treated with immunosuppressive or antiviral therapy within a year were also excluded. Characteristics: Interferon group: Male/Female: 15/10. Age (mean ± SD): 48 ± 0.4. Prior hepatitis: 5. Prior transfusions: 6. Anti‐HCV: 15. AST (IU/L) (mean ± SD): 130 ± 1.8. ALT (IU/L) (mean ± SD): 183 ± 2.1. Bilirubin (mg/dl ± SD): 0.8 ± 0.1. Gamma‐globulin (g/dl) ± SD): 1.9 ± 0.1. Cirrhosis: 8. Prednisolone group: Male/Female: 18/5. Age (mean): 47. Prior hepatitis: 6. Prior transfusions: 9. Anti‐HCV: 21. AST (IU/L) (mean ± SD): 154 ± 2.1. ALT (IU/L) (mean ± SD): 221 ± 2.3. Bilirubin (mg/dl ± SD): 1.0 ± 0.2. Gamma‐globulin (g/dl) ± SD ): 2.0 ± 0.1. Cirrhosis: 7. Control group: Male/Female: 15/7. Age (mean): 45. Prior hepatitis: 3. Prior transfusions: 4. Anti‐HCV: 21. AST (IU/L) (mean ± SD): 108 ± 1.6. ALT (IU/L) (mean ± SD): 177 ± 2.3. Bilirubin (mg/dl ± SD): 0.9 ± 0.1. Gamma‐globulin (g/dl) ± SD ): 2.0 ± 0.1. Cirrhosis: 3. |
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| Interventions | Prednisolone group: Prednisolone 30 mg daily for three weeks, 15 mg daily for another week, followed by a 2‐week rest and starting the same regime as the fixed interferon group. Fixed dosage interferon group: all patients received recombinant interferon alpha‐2b three million units three times/week for 24 weeks. Adjustable interferon group: start as the fixed interferon group but down or up titration according to AST changes: if ALT remains normal for four weeks dosage is reduced but if relapse occur dosage is increased to the original level. Control group: no treatment for three month followed by altering treatment with three million units of recombinant interferon alpha‐2b three times/week for two weeks then two weeks with no treatment for a period of six months. |
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| Outcomes | ALT, blood counts, bilirubin, gamma‐globulin, and adverse effects. Complete response was defined as normalisation of ALT (less than 60 IU/L). | |
| Notes | We included follow‐up 26 weeks after treatment in our meta‐analysis. Only outcome measures from three groups were reported (prednisolone, fixed interferon, and no intervention group). No information on health economics was provided. | |
| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Allocation concealment? | Unclear risk | B ‐ Unclear |