Current concepts and controversies in the treatment of alcoholic hepatitis

Table 3 Randomized controlled glucocorticoid trials in treatment of alcoholic hepatitis (% Death)

Study	Glucocorticoid	Patient	Severity assessment	HE	Placebo	Steroid	RRR (95% CI)	NNT (95% CI)	Quality
					All (%)	All (%)	All %	All	score
					HE (%)	HE (%)	HE %	HE
Porter et al[125] 1971	Methylprednisolone	20	Self derived	16	7/9 (77)b	6/11 (55)b	N/A	N/A	5
					7/8 (88)c	6/8 (75)c
Helman et al[28]a 1971	Prednisolone	37	Self derived	15	6/17 (35)	1/20 (5)	86 (-0.06-0.98)	3 (2-18)	2
					6/6 (100)	1/9 (11)	84 (0.28-0.96)	1 (1-2)
Campra et al[31] 1973	Prednisone	54	Self derived	18	9/25 (36)	7/20 (35)	N/A	N/A	2
					8/10 (80)	4/8 (50)
Blitzer et al[52] 1977	Prednisolone	28	Self derived	5	5/16 (31)	6/12 (50)	N/A	N/A	5
					1/2 (50)	2/3 (67)
Lesesne et al[49]a 1978	Prednisolone	14	Self derived	14	7/7 (100)	2/7 (29)	67 (0.05-0.88)	2 (1-4)	3
					7/7 (100)	2/7 (29)	67 (0.05-0.88)	2 (1-4)
Shumaker et al[30] 1978	Methylprednisolone	27	Self derived	12	7/15 (47)	6/12 (50)	N/A	N/A	5
					4/6 (67)	2/6 (33)
Maddrey et al[13]a 1978	Prednisolone	55	DF	15	6/31 (19)	1/24 (4)	79 (-0.67-0.97)	6 (-3-111)	4
					6/10 (60)	1/5 (20)	67 (-1.1-0.95)	3 (-1-16)
Depew et al[126] 1980	Prednisone	28	Self derived	28	7/13 (54)	8/15 (53)	N/A	N/A	4
					7/13 (54)	8/15 (53)
Theodossi et al[53] 1982	Methylprednisolone	55	Self derived	34	16/28 (57)	17/27 (63)	N/A	N/A	3
					10/14 (71)	17/20 (85)
Mendenhall et al[48] 1984	Prednisolone	178	Self derived	61	50/88 (57)	55/90 (61)	N/A	N/A	3
					10/30 (33)	11/31 (36)
Carithers et al[14]a 1989	Methylprednisolone	66	DF	33	11/31 (36)	2/35 (6)	84 (0.3-0.96)	3 (2-9)	5
					9/19 (47)	1/14 (7)	85 (-0.06-0.98)	2 (2-7)
Ramond et al[15]a 1992	Prednisolone	61	DF	19	16/29 (55)	4/32 (13)	77 (0.4-0.9)	2 (2-5)	5
					7/10 (70)	2/9 (22)	68 (-0.15-0.9)	2 (1-12)

^aP < 0.05 for survival benefit as reported by study authors; Note percent death at 28 d in placebo versus steroids is shown in each box for all cases^b and for those with hepatic encephalopathy.

^cRRR, NNT is calculated from published data of those studies that reported a significant survival benefit. HE: Hepatic Encephalopathy; DF: Maddrey Discriminant Factor; CP: Child Turcotte Pugh; N/A: non significant difference in mortality as reported by study authors; Self derived: Criteria derived by study team not including CP, DF or MELD.