Reviews

Assessing the efficacy of oral immunotherapy for the desensitisation of peanut allergy in children (STOP II): a phase 2 randomised controlled trial
OIT successfully induced desensitisation in most children within the study population with peanut allergy of any severity, with a clinically meaningful increase in peanut threshold. Quality of life improved after intervention and there was a good safety profile. Immunological changes corresponded with clinical desensitisation. Further studies in wider populations are recommended; peanut OIT should not be done in non-specialist settings, but it is effective and well tolerated in the studied age group. Anagnostou K, Islam S, King Y, Foley L, Pasea L, Bond S, Palmer C, Deighton J, Ewan P, Clark A. Lancet. 2014 Jan 29. pii: S0140-6736(13)62301-6. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24485709

Disulfiram efficacy in the treatment of alcohol dependence: a meta-analysis
Blinded studies were incapable of distinguishing a difference between treatment groups and thus are incompatible with disulfiram research. Based on results with open-label studies, disulfiram is a safe and efficacious treatment compared to other abstinence supportive pharmacological treatments or to no disulfiram in supervised studies for problems of alcohol abuse or dependence. Skinner MD, Lahmek P, Pham H, Aubin HJ. PLoS One. 2014 Feb 10;9(2):e87366. eCollection 2014. PMID: 24520330

Pressure-relieving devices for treating heel pressure ulcers
This review identified one small study at moderate to high risk of bias which provided no evidence to inform practice. More research is needed. McGinnis E, Stubbs N. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 Feb 12;2:CD005485. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24519736

Dietary interventions for preventing complications in idiopathic hypercalciuria
Long-term adherence (five years) to diets that feature normal levels of calcium, low protein and low salt may reduce numbers of stone recurrences, decrease oxaluria and calcium oxalate relative supersaturation indexes in people with idiopathic hypercalciuria who experience recurrent kidney stones. Adherence to a low salt, normal calcium level diet for some months can reduce calciuria and oxaluria. However, the other dietary interventions examined did not demonstrate evidence of significant beneficial effects.No studies were found investigating the effect of dietary recommendations on other clinical complications or asymptomatic idiopathic hypercalciuria. Escribano J, Balaguer A, Roqué I Figuls M, Feliu A, Ferre N. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 Feb 11;2:CD006022. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24519664

Prophylaxis for venous thromboembolic disease in pregnancy and the early postnatal period
There is insufficient evidence on which to base recommendations for thromboprophylaxis during pregnancy and the early postnatal period, with the small number of differences detected in this review being largely derived from trials that were not of high methodological quality. Large scale, high-quality randomised trials of currently used interventions are warranted. Bain E, Wilson A, Tooher R, Gates S, Davis LJ, Middleton P. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 Feb 11;2:CD001689. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24519568

Dietary carrot consumption and the risk of prostate cancer
Carrot intake might be inversely associated with prostate cancer risk. Because of the limited number of cohort studies and substantial heterogeneity observed between studies in this meta-analysis, further well-designed prospective studies are warranted to confirm the findings from our study. Xu X, Cheng Y, Li S, Zhu Y, Xu X, Zheng X, Mao Q, Xie L. Eur J Nutr. 2014 Feb 12. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24519559

Tonsillectomy for Recurrent Sore Throats in Children: Indications, Outcomes, and Efficacy
The disparity between parental satisfaction rates and published clinical efficacy can be explained by a lack of parent/child outcome measures specific to tonsillectomy for recurrent sore throats. A more parent/child-centered approach may establish what tonsillectomy could offer this group of children. Barraclough J, Anari S. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2014 Feb 11. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24519269

Sensitivity and specificity of CT colonography for the detection of colonic neoplasia after positive faecal occult blood testing: systematic review and meta-analysis
FOBt is the most common mass screening test for colorectal cancer. • Few studies evaluate CT colonography after positive FOBt. • CTC is approximately 89 % sensitive for ≥6 mm adenomas/cancer in this setting. • Specificity is lower, at approximately 75 %, and more variable. • CT colonography is a good alternative when colonoscopy is undesirable. Plumb AA, Halligan S, Pendsé DA, Taylor SA, Mallett S. Eur Radiol. 2014 Feb 12. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24519111