Treatment of children with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Systematic review with meta‐analysis: comparison between therapeutic regimens for paediatric chronic hepatitis C

“…Comparisons were conducted for the SVR crude estimate [Σ crude proportions (i)/Σ n (i)] and for the SVR weighted estimate [Σ weighted proportions (i)/Σ studies' weights (i)], where i = study 1 + study 2, etc., in each group as mentioned before. 13,14 Wherever significant (<0.05), the probability (P) value was given for the crude estimate, while the weighted estimate was expressed by odds ratio (OR) and its 95% con-fidence interval (CI). Epi Info software, 2002 (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA) was used to compare the outcome of treatment and adverse events among the groups through the Mantel-Haenszel test.…”

Treating children with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B: No small accomplishment

“…For all the above reasons the article by El Sherbini et al [7] published in this issue of Digestive and Liver Disease, is particularly timely. The authors performed a systematic review and metaanalysis of the literature from January 1990 to June 2013, aiming to assess the outcome of the different available therapeutic regimens in 2-18 year-old patients with HBeAg-positive CHB.…”

“…For lamivudine [9] the recommendations are still scarce. These aspects were not fully reviewed/discussed in the meta-analysis performed by El Sherbini and colleagues [7], and will probably deserve future evaluation.…”

“…In this context, the recent guidelines of the ESPGHAN experts [9] and the meta-analysis by El Sherbini et al [7] are a first step in the right direction along this difficult path.…”

Lamivudine resistance in children with chronic hepatitis B

“…On the other hand, an elevated pretreatment alanine aminotransferase level (more than twofold the upper normal limit) is a key factor reducing the LAM resistance [39] . Patients who have not achieved a complete virologic response (partial response) to LAM at week 24, switching to a more potent antiviral agent or add-on another antiviral agent without cross-resistance profile is the only useful treatment approach [40] . Treatment guidelines for children have not been established yet.…”