Effect of prednisolone and adrenocorticotropic hormone in the treatment of infantile spasms: a Meta analysis

Abstract:

Objective To compare the effect and safety of prednisolone and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in the treatment of infantile spasms (IS). Methods Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, China Biology Medicine Disc, CNKI, and Wanfang Data were searched for clinical studies on the comparison between prednisolone and ACTH in the treatment of IS. Literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed. Review Manager 5.3 was used for Meta analysis. Results Five clinical studies were included according to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. Meta analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the spasm remission rate, spasm remission time, complicating infection rate, and irritability rate between the prednisolone and ACTH treatment groups (P > 0.05), but the disappearance rate of hypsarrhythmia in the electroencephalogram was higher in the ACTH treatment group than in the prednisolone treatment group (P < 0.05). Conclusions The available evidence shows no difference in the clinical efficacy of prednisolone versus ACTH in the treatment of IS. However, ACTH is superior to prednisolone in stabilizing EEG. The two therapies have no difference in the incidence of adverse reactions such as infection and irritability.