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To date, prospective studies of the efficacy of prednisolone, pentoxifylline, or both for alcoholic hepatitis (AH) have been relatively small in size and results have been inconsistent.
In a recent large trial, investigators randomized 1103 patients with severe AH to receive either prednisolone (40 mg daily) plus a pentoxifylline-matched placebo, pentoxifylline (400 mg three times daily) plus a prednisolone-matched placebo, prednisolone plus pentoxifylline, or both placebos for 28 days. The primary endpoint was 28-day mortality. Secondary endpoints were mortality and transplantation at 90 days and 1 year.
The 28-day mortality rates were 14%, 19%, 13%, and 17% in the prednisolone-placebo, pentoxifylline-placebo, prednisolone-pentoxifylline, an…