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A Meta‐Analysis of Interferon‐α Treatment of Hepatitis D Virus Infection
Author(s) -
Malaguarnera Mariano,
Restuccia Salvatore,
Pistone Giovanni,
Ruello Pasqualina,
Giugno Ignazio,
Trovato Barbara A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
pharmacotherapy: the journal of human pharmacology and drug therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.227
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1875-9114
pISSN - 0277-0008
DOI - 10.1002/j.1875-9114.1996.tb03642.x
Subject(s) - medicine , interferon , odds ratio , natural history , confidence interval , chronic hepatitis , meta analysis , drug , hepatitis , immunology , virus , pharmacology
The severity of chronic hepatitis D infection and its unfavorable progress necessitate research into drugs and protocols capable of changing the natural history of the disease. Over the last few years interferon (IFN)‐α has been the drug of choice in the management of this infection. We assessed its long‐term efficacy by analyzing 5 controlled and 10 uncontrolled trials conducted between 1987 and 1994. The Mantel‐Haenszel‐Peto method was used in the former to perform statistical analysis. The odds ratio (0.16, confidence interval 0.058‐0.476) confirmed the efficacy of IFN‐α, even if the coefficient was not significant because of the limited number of spontaneous remissions in the trials. Although IFN treatment is fully beneficial in only a small number of patients with chronic hepatitis D infection, at present it is the only available agent.