SynthesisBMJ open2021
Efficacy and safety of pirfenidone in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Economic burden and cost drivers of interstitial lung disease: a systematic review.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of antifibrotics on health-related quality of life in patients with interstitial lung disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Therapeutic advances in respiratory diseasePooled it
- Acute Exacerbation of Interstitial Lung Disease: A Case Series and a Narrative Literature Review.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2026Review
- Adverse side-effects of antifibrotic drugs and outcome of treatment in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
- The intersection of liver cirrhosis and pulmonary fibrosis.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Cannabidiol inhibits TGF-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human conjunctival epithelial cells by interrupting TGF-β/Smad signaling.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- [Pathophysiology of fibrosis: inflammatory vs. non-inflammatory].Innere Medizin (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- HSP47 at the Crossroads of Thrombosis and Collagen Dynamics: Unlocking Therapeutic Horizons and Debates.TH open : companion journal to thrombosis and haemostasis · 2025Review
- Prevalence, Clinical Features, and Outcomes of Young Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases · 2025Article
- Current status of pulmonary rehabilitation and impact on prognosis of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in South Korea.Journal of thoracic disease · 2024Article
- Acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis a narrative review primary focus on treatments.Journal of thoracic disease · 2024Review
- Pirfenidone in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Real-World Observation on Efficacy and Safety, Focus on Patients Undergoing Antithrombotic and Anticoagulant.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Review
- HSP47: A Therapeutic Target in Pulmonary Fibrosis.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- The role of pulmonary rehabilitation in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: An overview of systematic reviews.PloS one · 2023Review
- A glance into the future of myositis therapy.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2022Review
- Efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: An exploratory, randomized, double-blinded and placebo controlled trial.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Targeting Growth Factor and Cytokine Pathways to Treat Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Review
- Therapeutic efficacy of pirfenidone and nintedanib in pulmonary fibrosis; a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of thoracic medicineReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been defined as a distinctive type of chronic fibrotic disease, characterised by a progressive decline in lung function and a common histological pattern of interstitial pneumonia. To analyse the efficacy and safety of pirfenidone in the treatment of IPF, a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed.
designThis is a meta-analysis study.
participantsPatients were diagnosed as IPF.
interventionsUse of pirfenidone. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME: Progression-free survival (PFS), acute exacerbation and worsening of IPF and Impact on adverse events. MEASURES: The inverse variance method for the random-effects model was used to summarise the dichotomous outcomes, risk ratios and 95% CIs.
resultsA total of 9 randomised controlled trials with 1011 participants receiving pirfenidone and 912 controls receiving placebo were summarised. The pooled result suggested a statistically significant difference inall-cause mortality after pirfenidone use, with a summarised relative ratio of 0.51 (p<0.01). Longer PFS was observed in patients receiving pirfenidone compared with those who were given placebo (p<0.01). The IPF groups presented a high incidence of adverse events with a pooled relative ratio of 3.89 (p<0.01).
conclusionsPirfenidone can provide survival benefit for patients with IPF. Pirfenidone treatment was also associated with a longer PFS, a lower incidence of acute exacerbation and worsening of IPF.
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Registered trials
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.