Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26486698›Full record

Trial reportClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2016

Local Heat Application for the Treatment of Buruli Ulcer: Results of a Phase II Open Label Single Center Non Comparative Clinical Trial.

Moritz Vogel, Pierre F Bayi, Marie-Thérèse Ruf, Martin W Bratschi, Miriam Bolz, Alphonse Um Boock, Marcel Zwahlen, Gerd Pluschke, Thomas Junghanss

Open access · hybridAbstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Drugs for treating Buruli ulcer (Mycobacterium ulcerans disease).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018
    Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Observational
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Moritz VogelSection Clinical Tropical Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany.
Pierre F BayiFAIRMED, Bureau Régional pour l'Afrique, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Marie-Thérèse RufSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.
Martin W BratschiSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.
Miriam BolzSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.
Alphonse Um BoockFAIRMED, Bureau Régional pour l'Afrique, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Marcel ZwahlenInstitute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Gerd PluschkeSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.
Thomas JunghanssSection Clinical Tropical Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany.
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute · CHHeidelberg University · DEInstitute of Social and Preventive Medicine · CHUniversity of Basel · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBuruli ulcer (BU) is a necrotizing skin disease most prevalent among West African children. The causative organism, Mycobacterium ulcerans, is sensitive to temperatures above 37°C. We investigated the safety and efficacy of a local heat application device based on phase change material.

methodsIn a phase II open label single center noncomparative clinical trial (ISRCTN 72102977) under GCP standards in Cameroon, laboratory confirmed BU patients received up to 8 weeks of heat treatment. We assessed efficacy based on the endpoints 'absence of clinical BU specific features' or 'wound closure' within 6 months ("primary cure"), and 'absence of clinical recurrence within 24 month' ("definite cure").

resultsOf 53 patients 51 (96%) had ulcerative disease. 62% were classified as World Health Organization category II, 19% each as category I and III. The average lesion size was 45 cm(2). Within 6 months after completion of heat treatment 92.4% (49 of 53, 95% confidence interval [CI], 81.8% to 98.0%) achieved cure of their primary lesion. At 24 months follow-up 83.7% (41 of 49, 95% CI, 70.3% to 92.7%) of patients with primary cure remained free of recurrence. Heat treatment was well tolerated; adverse effects were occasional mild local skin reactions.

conclusionsLocal thermotherapy is a highly effective, simple, cheap and safe treatment for M. ulcerans disease. It has in particular potential as home-based remedy for BU suspicious lesions at community level where laboratory confirmation is not available. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: ISRCT 72102977.

Indexed as

Buruli UlcerCameroonChildFemaleHot TemperatureHumansHyperthermia, InducedMaleTreatment OutcomeBuruli ulcerlocal thermotherapyMycobacterium ulcerans

Identifiers

PMID26486698
PMCPMC4706634
OpenAlexW1769972931

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.