Mark R Thursz, Paul Richardson, Michael Allison, Andrew Austin, Megan Bowers, Christopher P Day, Nichola Downs, Dermot Gleeson, Alastair MacGilchrist, Allister Grant, Steven Hood, Steven Masson, Anne McCune, Jane Mellor, John O'Grady, David Patch, Ian Ratcliffe, Paul Roderick, Louise Stanton, Nikhil Vergis, Mark Wright, Stephen Ryder, Ewan H Forrest
BACKGROUND: Alcoholic hepatitis is a clinical syndrome characterized by jaundice and liver impairment that occurs in patients with a history of heavy and prolonged alcohol use. The short-term mortality among patients with severe disease exceeds 30%. Prednisolone and pentoxifylline are both recommended for the treatment of severe alcoholic hepatitis, but uncertainty about their benefit persists. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial with a 2-by-2 factorial design to evaluate the effect of treatment with prednisolone or pentoxifylline...
April 23, 2015: New England Journal of Medicine