Treatment of acute childhood immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is controversial. For information on the present situation in Germany, a retrospective and a prospective survey were carried out. In the retrospective survey, questionnaires were sent to all German pediatric hospitals asking about local policies for handling ITP and whether in the preceding year (starting on October 1995) death or ICH had occurred; 86% answered. In the prospective survey, 94% responded to the mailings ("have you seen a case of ITP?") sent in monthly intervals between October 1, 1996 and September 30, 1997; 89% of the questionnaires were retrieved. In the retrospective survey, no deaths and no ICH were reported. If only mild bleedings, such as skin bleeds alone (or additional mild mucous membrane bleeding) were present, 20.5% (26.4%) preferred the "watchful waiting" regimen (supportive care), irrespective of the platelet count; 79.5% (73.6%) would treat if the platelet counts were <5 x 10(9)/L, 73.5% (67.9%) if < 10, 35.9% (33.6%) if < 20, and 4.2% (2.6%) if <30. Of the treaters, 50.5% would prefer immunoglobulins (Ig), 24.4% glucocorticosteroids (GC), and 20.5% GC and/or Ig. Generally, a rise in platelets, most frequently >50 x 10(9)/L was considered as therapeutic success. In the prospective survey, from the reported 323 children an annual incidence of 2.16 per 100,000 children was calculated. The incidence depended on age and gender, being highest for boys younger than 2 years with 5.8 (girls 3.42) and low with 0.44 for boys (girls 0.89) older than l4 years. About 60% of the patients had a preceding infection. Although 83% had a platelet count <20 x 10(9)/L (56% <10 x 10(9)/L), almost all (97.5%) had only mild bleeding symptoms; 2.5% had serious bleeding symptoms requiring blood transfusion or nasal packing, none had ICH, and no death was reported. The mean platelet count on admission was 11.348 (lowest count 8.253) x 10(9)/L. Sixty-one percent received Ig, 19% GC (both either alone or as first choice), 6% Ig plus GC, and 14% no treatment. Side effects were reported in 22% of the children treated with Ig. The retrospective survey mirrored the uncertainty in regard to treatment. The prospective survey provided new aspects on incidence, age, and gender distribution. Although almost all patients had only mild bleeding symptoms, most received Ig and/or GC. The decision to treat depended mainly on the platelet count. From these surveys, conclusions about the effectiveness of treatment cannot be drawn. Recommendations based primarily on platelet counts must be reconsidered.
Introduction The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) is the most widely used instrument to assess erectile function in research and clinical practice. However, there are heterogeneous results concerning the factor structure of this questionnaire. The original model assumes five factors (erectile function, intercourse satisfaction, orgasmic function, sexual desire, and overall satisfaction). Others suggested four factors (composite domain of erectile dysfunction and intercourse satisfaction, orgasmic function, sexual desire, and overall satisfaction) or only two factors (sexual function and sexual desire). Because of the high intercorrelation between the different domains, a one-factor model is also plausible. Aims This study assesses and compares these four models of the German version of the IIEF. Methods It was examined which of the models fit best our data from 261 German men in cardiovascular rehabilitation participating in the SPARK study (Sexuality of Patients in the Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Diseases). Contrary to the former exploratory studies, we used confirmatory factor analysis. Main Outcome Measures Local and global goodness-of-fit measures were calculated. Results The results show that two items (ability to maintain erection and intercourse frequency) could not be represented sufficiently through any of the four models. Based on the global goodness-of-fit indexes, our data proved to be fairly congruent with the original five-factor model and were acceptably represented by a four-factor model as well. Conclusions The original five-factor structure could be confirmed. Due to high intercorrelations, the different domains cannot optimally be discriminated and should be interpreted with caution. Further research is needed to clarify the association between the domains of male sexual function.
This meta-analytic study aims to estimate the likely improvements of erectile dysfunction (ED) measured by the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) at the highest fixed dosages of the three available PDE-5-inhibitors: sildenafil, tadalafil, and vardenafil. MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library were searched electronically for efficacy trials of PDE-5-inhibitors for treating ED. In addition drug manufacturers were contacted to provide unpublished or unrecorded congress proceedings. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, maximum fixed-dose, broad-spectrum efficacy trials using IIEF were included in the analysis. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers. The results were pooled using weighted mean differences. A formal indirect comparison (including Bonferroni-correction) was conducted to estimate the differences between agents. A total of 14 trials were included in the meta-analysis (three with 100 mg sildenafil, eight with 20-25 mg tadalafil, and three with 20 mg vardenafil). All trials were of good methodological quality. Overall heterogeneity was moderate: I 2 ¼ 33.2%, v 2 ¼ 19.47, P ¼ 0.11. The funnel plot suggested moderate likelihood of publication bias. Pooled results of IIEF-improvement were for sildenafil 9.65 (95% CI: 8.50, 10.79) points, tadalafil 8.52 (7.61, 9.42) points, and vardenafil 7.50 (6.50, 8.50) points, respectively. Sildenafil proved to be significantly more effective than vardenafil (d ¼ 2.15, P ¼ 0.006), other pairwise comparisons showed no difference in efficacy. All PDE-5-inhibitors are highly effective in the treatment of ED. At maximum dosage they improve erectile function 7-10 points on the IIEF compared to placebo-treatment. There is evidence that sildenafil might be more efficacious than vardenafil, although this is to be interpreted with caution. To prove higher efficacy truly independent comparative trials are needed.
Einleitung 389 Klassifikation 390 Symptomatik 391 Epidemiologie 393 Ätiologie und Risikofaktoren 393 Versorgung und Versorgungs− bedarf 398 Behandlung 398 Psychische Störungen bei körperlichen Faktoren 389 Dieses Dokument wurde zum persönlichen Gebrauch heruntergeladen. Vervielfältigung nur mit Zustimmung des Verlages.
Several trials and reviews provide evidence for the efficacy of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors in the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). However, little is known about the impact of treatment effect modifiers other than concomitant diseases. Our objective was to identify patient and trial characteristics as well as methodological and publication-related issues that are associated with the treatment effect measured in flexible-dose randomized controlled trials of oral sildenafil for ED. The MEDLINE and the Cochrane Central databases were searched for efficacy trials of sildenafil. Thirteen trials fulfilled all inclusion criteria. A series of meta-regression and graphical analyses were performed to test the impact of possible effect modifiers. Treatment effect was influenced by mean baseline disease severity and mean duration of the disease. These associations were at least partly mediated by placebo response. Trial duration, age of patients and etiology of ED in patients did not have any significant influence on the treatment effect. The year of publication of primary trials was also related to trial findings. Our analysis adds important data to enable the control of confounding variables in future trials and meta-analyses. It might also help the individual to assess the unbiased efficacy and true innovative potential of available and forthcoming pharmacological agents.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.