Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33376418›Full record

ArticleOpen access rheumatology : research and reviews2020

Comparability of European League Against Rheumatology-Recommended Pharmacological Treatments of Oral Ulcers Associated with Behçet's Disease: A Systematic Literature Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Tara Nazareth, Erin M Hart, Sarah M Ronnebaum, Sandhya Mehta, Dipen A Patel, Ina Kötter

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open access rheumatology : research and reviews, 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
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 39% 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, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Epidemiology and treatment of Adamantiades-Behçet's disease in Germany: A healthcare claims database study.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2025
    Article
  3. 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

6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Tara NazarethAmgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0777-2014
Erin M HartPharmerit - an OPEN Health Company, New York, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6683-4804
Sarah M RonnebaumPharmerit - an OPEN Health Company, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4787-754X
Sandhya MehtaCelgene Corporation, Summit, NJ, USA.
Dipen A PatelPharmerit - an OPEN Health Company, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9212-7046
Ina KötterDivision of Rheumatology and Systemic Inflammatory Diseases, University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf and Clinic for Rheumatology and Immunology, Bad Bramstedt, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-9262-005X
Pharmerit (United States) · USAmgen (United States) · USOpen Society Foundations · USUniversität Hamburg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveOral ulcers are the cardinal manifestation in Behçet's disease (BD). The 2018 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommendations describe treatments for BD-associated oral ulcers with mucocutaneous involvement; however, little comparative effectiveness information for these agents is available. In the absence of head-to-head trials, an indirect treatment comparison (ITC) could provide useful evidence regarding comparative effectiveness of BD treatments. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative systematic literature review (SLR) and similarity assessment of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the oral ulcer-related efficacy outcomes of EULAR-recommended treatments for BD-associated oral ulcers to determine the feasibility of an ITC.

methodsAn SLR was performed to identify relevant RCTs indexed in MEDLINE/Embase before May 29, 2019. RCT similarities for the ITC were assessed based on a step-wise process recommended by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.

resultsIn total, 317 articles were identified, of which 14 RCTs, reflecting 11 EULAR-recommended treatments, were evaluated in a similarity assessment. Number of oral ulcers, resolution of oral ulcers, and healing time for oral ulcers were identified as the possible oral ulcer-related outcomes. After completing the similarity assessment of these outcomes, it was determined that a robust ITC was infeasible for the three oral ulcer-related outcomes due to heterogeneity in outcomes reporting, study design, and/or patient characteristics. More broadly, the results underscore the need for and consistent use of standardized measures for oral ulcer outcomes to facilitate comparative research.

conclusionIn the absence of head-to-head RCTs and infeasibility of quantitative ITC, comparative assessments for BD-associated oral ulcers are limited, including comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness evaluations. Healthcare decision-makers must continue to base treatment decisions on the extent and strength of available evidence (eg, robust RCTs), clinical guidelines, real-world experience, and patient considerations.

Indexed as

Behçet syndromecomparative effectiveness researchoral ulcer

Identifiers

PMID33376418
PMCPMC7762439
OpenAlexW3117001512

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.