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Artemisinin-based combination therapy for ... - The Cochrane Library

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Ashley 2003b THA<br />

Methods Trial design: A randomized controlled trial<br />

Follow up: Temperature and blood smears daily until clearance of fever and parasites,<br />

then weekly attendance until day 63<br />

Adverse event monitoring: Adverse events defined as signs or symptoms that occurred<br />

or became more severe after treatment started. A subset of 55 patients in the DHA-P<br />

group had full blood counts, urea, electrolyte, creatinine and liver function tests at days<br />

0 and 7. 32 patients from the DHA-P group also had ECG monitoring be<strong>for</strong>e and after<br />

treatment.<br />

Participants Number: 355 randomized into included treatment arms<br />

Inclusion criteria: Age 1 to 65 yrs, symptomatic P. falciparum parasitaemia, in<strong>for</strong>med<br />

consent<br />

Exclusion criteria: Pregnancy or lactation, signs or symptoms of severe malaria, > 4% of<br />

red blood cells parasitized, contraindication to mefloquine, treatment with mefloquine<br />

in the previous 60 days<br />

Interventions 1. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, fixed dose <strong>combination</strong> (Artekin: Holleykin)<br />

• Total dose: 6 mg/kg DHA and 48 mg/kg P in 4 divided doses at 0, 8, 24, and 48<br />

hours<br />

2. Artesunate plus mefloquine, loose <strong>combination</strong> (Artesunate: Guilin, Mequin: Atlantic)<br />

• AS 4 mg/kg once daily <strong>for</strong> 3 days<br />

• MQ 8 mg/kg once daily <strong>for</strong> 3 days<br />

All doses supervized<br />

Outcomes 1. Cure rate at day 63, PCR adjusted and unadjusted<br />

2. P. vivax during follow up, and mean time to reappearance<br />

3. Gametocyte development during follow up<br />

4. Mean haematocrit at days 0 and 7<br />

5. Adverse events<br />

Not included in this review:<br />

1. Fever clearance time<br />

2. Parasite clearance time<br />

Notes Country: Thailand<br />

Setting: 4 clinics on the Thai-Myanmar border<br />

Transmission: Unstable low and seasonal transmission<br />

Resistance: Multiple-drug resistance<br />

Dates: Jul 2002 to Apr 2003<br />

Funding: Wellcome Trust of Great Britain<br />

Risk of bias<br />

Item Authors’ judgement Description<br />

Adequate sequence generation? Yes ’<strong>The</strong> randomisation was computer generated<br />

(STATA; version 7; Statacorp)’. Randomized<br />

in blocks of 9.<br />

<strong>Artemisinin</strong>-<strong>based</strong> <strong>combination</strong> <strong>therapy</strong> <strong>for</strong> treating uncomplicated malaria (Review)<br />

Copyright © 2009 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Cochrane</strong> Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.<br />

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