Purpose To systemic evaluation the efficacy of methylprednisolone pulse therapy in the treatment of thyroid-associated ophthalmology.Method A meta-analysis of published randomized clinical trials was designed. Published articles were selected for study based on a computerized search of the literature and a manual search of the bibliographies of relevant articles. Treatment effect was measured as relative risk (RR) of response rates. Results A total of 6 articles were included. The RR were 7.50 (1.14, 49.26) when comparing methylprednisolone pulse therapy with placebo, 3.33 (0.51, 21.89) when comparing methylprednisolone pulse therapy with surgical decompression, and 1.50 (1.12, 2.00) when comparing methylprednisolone pulse therapy with oral steroids. The combination of methylprednisolone pulse therapy and orbital radiotherapy was markedly more effective than oral steroids combined with orbital radiotherapy, with pooled RR being 1.42 (1.11, 1.81). Conclusion Methylprednisolone pulse therapy is an effective treatment for thyroid-associated ophthalmology, and seems to have increased effect when combination with orbital radiotherapy. |