ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2023
The WEST Study: A Retrospective and Multicentric Study on the Impact of Steroid Therapy in West Nile Encephalitis.
Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2023. 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.
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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inflammatory Response Associated with West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease: A Systematic Review.Viruses · 2024Pooled it
- West Nile virus: epidemiology, prevention, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and open research questions.Annals of medicine · 2026Review
- West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease: Current Management, Emerging Therapies and Future Clinical Trial Priorities.Reviews in medical virology · 2026Review
- The Impact of Corticosteroid Therapy on Patients With West Nile Virus: A Retrospective Cohort Study.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Severe Usutu Virus Encephalitis Treated With Corticosteroids: A Case Report.Case reports in infectious diseases · 2026Article
- West Nile Virus in a changing climate: epidemiology, pathology, advances in diagnosis and treatment, vaccine designing and control strategies, emerging public health challenges - a comprehensive review.Emerging microbes & infections · 2025Review
- Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss in an Immunocompetent Patient With West Nile Encephalitis.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2025Article
- A central role for CCR2 in monocyte recruitment and blood-brain barrier disruption during Usutu virus encephalitis.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2025Article
- Variations in West Nile viral infections across North and Central Texas.Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center) · 2025Article
- Review
- Bilateral multifocal chorioretinitis as the only presentation of acute West Nile virus infection: a case report.BMC ophthalmology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The use of steroid therapy in potentially life-threatening neuroinvasive forms of West Nile infection (WNND) is controversial. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of steroid therapy in reducing intrahospital mortality, length of stay, and neurological sequelae at discharge. Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective, observational study conducted in 5 hospitals in Northern Italy, headed by the Fondazione IRCSS Policlinico San Matteo (Pavia). We extracted all patient data with WNND diagnoses, comparing patients who received steroid treatment with patients who did not receive steroid treatment between January 2014 and January 2022. Comparisons between the 2 groups were performed using chi-square tests for categorical variables and Mann-Whitney tests for non-normal continuous data, and a generalized linear model for the binomial family was carried out. Results: Data from 65 WNND patients were extracted. Among these patients, 33 (50.7%) received steroid therapy at any point during their hospitalization. Receiving steroid therapy did not significantly reduce intrahospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.70; 95% CI, 0.3-13.8; Conclusions: Steroid treatment is currently used on a single-case basis in severe WNND. More prospective data are needed to demonstrate a protective effect on mortality and neurological sequelae.
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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.