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Uterine artery embolization combined with local infusion of methotrexate and 5- fluorouracil in treating ectopic pregnancy: A CONSORT-compliant article.
Gao, J, Li, X, Chen, J, Gong, W, Yue, K, Wu, Z
Medicine. 2018;(5):e9722
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Abstract
BACKGROUND To compare the efficiency and safety of uterine artery embolization (UAE) combined with local infusion of methotrexate (MTX) or MTX and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in the treatment of ectopic pregnancy (EP). METHODS One hundred women with EP were prospectively enrolled from December 2012 to February 2015 and randomly allocated into 2 groups. One group was treated with UAE combined MTX, and the other with UAE combined with MTX and 5-FU. Local MTX was administrated at a dose of 80 to 120 mg, based on the initial β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) levels, and 5-FU was given intra-arterially at a uniform dose of 0.5 g. RESULTS Bilateral UAE was successfully performed in all 100 patients, 88 of whom were clinically successfully treated, 45 (91.8%) in the MTX group, and 43 (87.8%) in the MTX + 5-FU group; 89% of the patients achieved normalization of β-HCG below 70,000 mIU/mL within 14 to 21 days postoperatively. The time to successful β-HCG resolution was 26.74 ± 5.57 days for patients receiving MTX + UAE treatment, and 27.57 ± 5.08 days for those treated with additional 5-FU. Six patients had subsequent intramuscular injections of MTX and 6 had a unilateral salpingectomy after the treatment failure. Mild immediate side effects accounted for 24.5% in the sole MTX and 58.3% in MTX + 5-FU group. CONCLUSION A combination of UAE and intrauterine infusion of MTX showed comparable efficiency to UAE combined with a local infusion of MTX and 5-FU in treating EP patients with the intention to preserve fertility.
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Comparison of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F with methotrexate in the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis (TRIFRA): a randomised, controlled clinical trial.
Lv, QW, Zhang, W, Shi, Q, Zheng, WJ, Li, X, Chen, H, Wu, QJ, Jiang, WL, Li, HB, Gong, L, et al
Annals of the rheumatic diseases. 2015;(6):1078-86
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To compare the efficacy and safety of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) with methotrexate (MTX) in the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Design: a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial. All patients were assessed by trained investigators who were unaware of the therapeutic regimen. INTERVENTION 207 patients with active RA were randomly allocated (1:1:1) to treatment with MTX 12.5 mg once a week, or TwHF 20 mg three times a day, or the two in combination. At week 12, if reduction of the 28-joint count Disease Activity Score (DAS28) was <30% in the monotherapy groups, the patient was switched to MTX+TwHF. The primary efficacy point was the proportion of patients achieving an American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 50 response at week 24. RESULTS 174/207 (84.1%) patients completed 24 weeks of the trial. In an intention-to-treat analysis, the proportion of patients reaching the ACR50 response criteria was 46.4% (32/69), 55.1% (38/69) and 76.8% (53/69), respectively, in the MTX, TwHF and MTX+TwHF groups (TwHF vs MTX monotherapy, p=0.014; MTX+TwHF vs MTX monotherapy, p<0.001). Similar statistically significant patterns at week 24 were found for ACR20, ACR70, clinical Disease Activity Index good responses, EULAR good response, remission rate and low disease activity rate. Significant improvement in the Health Assessment Questionnaire and 36-item Short-Form Health Survey questionnaire scores from baseline to week 24 was seen in each treatment arm (p<0.05), though no significant difference was found among the treatment arms (p>0.05). The result of per-protocol analysis agreed with that seen in the intention-to-treat analysis. Seven, three and five women in the TwHF, MTX and combination groups, respectively, developed irregular menstruation (TwHF vs MTX monotherapy, p=0.216). CONCLUSIONS TwHF monotherapy was not inferior to, and MTX+TwHF was better than, MTX monotherapy in controlling disease activity in patients with active RA. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT01613079.