Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32569233›Full record

ArticleMedicine2020

Effectiveness and safety of thymectomy plus prednisone compares with prednisone monotherapy for the treatment of non-thymomatous Myasthenia Gravis: Protocol for a systematic review.

Huili Yang, Dandan Liu, Xinxin Hong, Haonan Sun, Yu Zheng, Biying Yang, Wanshun Wang

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 46% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Huili YangThe Second Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.
Dandan LiuDepartment of Graduate School, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.
Xinxin HongThe Fourth Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen.
Haonan SunTraditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China.
Yu ZhengThe Second Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.
Biying YangThe Second Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.
Wanshun WangDepartment of Graduate School, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.
Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine · CNGuangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine · CNGeneral Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command · CNXinjiang Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis (MG) has strong connection with thymic abnormalities. Thymic hyperplasia or thymoma can be found with most patients. Thymectomy is currently one of the regular treatment in clinic, which is, however, still controversial for non-thymomatous MG. This research will assess the effectiveness and safety of thymectomy plus prednisone compared to prednisone monotherapy for the treatment of non-thymomatous MG systematically.

methodsAccording to eligibility and ineligibility criteria, 8 databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, the Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan-fang Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China Science and Technology Journal Database (CSTJ), will be searched to gather the up-to-standard articles from September 2000 to September 2025. Inclusion criteria are as follows: randomized controlled trials of thymectomy plus prednisone for the treatment of non-thymomatous MG. The quantitative myasthenia gravis score (QMG) and the dose of prednisone required will be accepted as the main outcomes. Data synthesis, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and meta-regression analysis will be conducted using RevMan 5.3 software. We will use Egger or Begg test to evaluate symmetry on a funnel plot which is made to assess reporting bias, and use trial sequential analysis (TSA) to exclude the probability of false positives.

resultsThis systematic review will measure the QMG and the dose of prednisone required, the myasthenia gravis activities of daily living scale scores (MG-ADL), treatment-associated complications, incidence of myasthenic crisis and other aspects to comprehensively assess the clinical benefits of thymectomy plus prednisone for MG patients without thymoma.

conclusionThe conclusion of this study will achieve convincing evidence to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of thymectomy plus prednisone for the treatment of non-thymomatous MG. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD 42020167735.

Indexed as

ThymectomyAnti-Inflammatory AgentsCombined Modality TherapyHumansMyasthenia GravisPrednisoneSystematic Reviews as TopicTreatment OutcomeAnti-Inflammatory AgentsPrednisone

Identifiers

PMID32569233
PMCPMC7310738
OpenAlexW3036062975

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.