ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of peginterferon alpha (PEG-IFNα) initially combined with lamivudine (LAM) or adefovir (ADV) in treatment of HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. MethodsWe electronically searched databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue 11, 2014), PubMed, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang Data from inception to December 2014, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about PEG-IFNα initially combined with LAM or ADV for HBeAg-positive CHB. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsA total of 11 RCTs involving 2031 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: After 48 weeks of treatment, the HBsAg seroconversion rate of the PEG-IFNα plus ADV group was significantly higher than that of the PEG-IFNα monotherapy group (8.6% vs. 0%, OR=7.73, 95%CI 1.53 to 39.05, P=0.01) or the ADV monotherapy group (8.5% vs. 0%, OR=7.75, 95%CI 1.07 to 56.23, P=0.04); and the HBsAg seroclearance rate in the combination therapy group was significantly higher than that of the ADV monotherapy group (10.5% vs. 1.2%, OR=5.56, 95%CI to 2.14 to 14.47, P=0.0004). After 52 weeks of treatment, the HBsAg seroconversion rate of the PEG-IFNα plus LAM group was significantly higher than that of the PEG-IFNα monotherapy group (11.6% vs. 5.6%, OR=2.21, 95%CI 1.04 to 4.72, P=0.04). After 26 weeks of follow-up, no significant differences were found between the combination therapy group and the PEG-IFNα monotherapy group in HBsAg seroclearance rate and HBsAg seroconversion rate (all P values >0.05). ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that, compared with PEG-IFNα, LAM, or ADV monotherapy, PEG-IFNα plus LAM or ADV could improve the HBsAg seroclearance or seroconversion rate after 48-52 weeks of treatment for HBeAg-positive CHB, but this effect is still limited. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.