Objective To assess the clinical effectiveness and safety of inductive treatment with arsenic trioxide （As203） for acute promyelocytic leukemia （APL）. Methods Randomized controlled trials （RCTs） were identified from MEDLINE （1966 -July, 2005 ）, EMBASE （1984 -July, 2005 ）, The Cochrane Library （ Issue 3, 2005） and CBM- disc （1978 -July, 2005）. The references of eligible studies were handsearched. RCTs of As203 treating for APL were included. Data were evaluated and extracted by two reviewers independently with designed extraction form. RevMan 4. 2.7 software was used for data analysis. Results Six RCTs involving 323 patients were included. Two studies reported that there was no statistical difference between As2O3 group and all-transretinoic acid （ATRA） group in mortality for patients with APL or APL patients with complications of desseminated intiavascular coagulation or cerebra hemorrhage. The pooled result of 4 studies showed that there was no statistical difference with RR 0.98, 95 % CI 0.86 to 1.12 in complete remission （CR） rates between the two groups. The result of one study showed that the CR rate of patients with intravenous injection of As203 in 2 divided dosages with longer injection duration was higher with RR 1.31, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.12 compared with those with a single intravenous injection. Adverse effects in As2O3 group were less than ATRA group. Conclusions Inductive treatment with As2O3 for acute promyelocytic leukeuia has similar mortality and CR with less adverse effects compared with ATRA. More trials of high quality are required.
Objective To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of Xingnaojing for treating cerebral infarction. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified from MEDLINE (1966 to April 2005), EMBASE (1984 to April 2005), Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Issue 2, 2005), CBMdisc (1978 to April 2005). We handsearched the related published and unpublished data and their references. All trials about Xingnaojing injection for cerebral infarction were included. Data were extracted and evaluated by two reviewers independently with designed extraction from RevMan 4.2.7 software was used for data analysis. Results Thirteen RCTs involving 1203 patients were include .The results of meta-analysis were listed as the following:①Mortality:Compared with danshen ,2 studies showed that Xingnaojing decreased mortality statistically (RR 0.31 and 95% CI 0.14 to 0.70).Compared with cerebrolysin ,1 study showed Xingnaojing didn’t decrease the mortality (RR 0.92 ,95%CI 0.14 to 6.27);②Total effective rate: Compared with Danshen ,4 studies showed that Xingnaojing were more effective (RR 0.92,95% CI 1.12 to 1.42 ); ③ Cure rate: Compared with each control , Xingnaojing had the same cure rate ;④ Adverse effect: The number of adverse drug reaction was small and the symptoms were moderate;⑤Neurologic impairment score:Compared with Danshen ,3 studies showed that Xingnaojing had better improvement (WMD 3.78 ,95%CI 2.30 to 5.26).Conclusions xingnaojing may decrease the mortality and increase the total effective rate of cerebral infarction .More high quality trials are required.
Objective To assess the clinical efficacy of Cordyceps sinensis in the treatment of chronic kidney diseases. Methods Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials (RCTs or quasi-RCTs) were identified from MEDLINE (1996 to Oct. 2005), EMbase (1984 to Oct. 2005), The Cochrane Central Register of controlled Trials (Issue 3, 2005) and CBMdisc (1978 to Oct. 2005). We also handsearched related published and unpublished data and their references. Data were extracted and evaluated by two reviewers independently with a designed extraction form. RevMan4.2.7 software was used for data analysis. Results One RCT and 5 quasi-RCTs involving 434 patients were included. Results of meta-analysis were presented as follows: ① Response rate: five studies showed that, compared with the blank control group, significant differences were observed after the treatment with Cordyceps (RR 2.13, 95%CI 1.06 to 4.26); one study showed that there was no difference between Cordyceps and Shenyankangfu tablet (RR 2.17, 95%CI 0.73 to 6.460). ② Total effective rate: five studies showed that, compared with the blank control group, significant differences were observed after the treatment with Cordyceps (RR1.94, 95 %CI 1.14 to 3.30); one study showed that there was no difference between Cordyceps and Shenyankangfu tablet (RR 1.39, 95%CI 0.89 to 2.16). ③ Adverse reactions: adverse reactions were rare only with mild symptoms. Conclusions Cordyceps sinensis may improve the response rate and total effective rate of chronic kidney diseases. More high quality trials are required.