SynthesisSystematic reviews2025
Efficacy and safety of corticosteroids for stroke and traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Systematic reviews, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- European stroke organisation guideline on stroke-associated pneumonia.European stroke journal · 2026Guideline
- Pooled it
- Adjunctive Methylprednisolone After Thrombectomy: A Secondary Analysis Stratified by Admission White Blood Cell Count.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Trial
- Failed resolution of inflammation in intracerebral haemorrhage.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- Plasma GFAP and NLRP3 Associate with Cognitive Impairment After Recent Small Subcortical Infarct via Periventricular White Matter Hyperintensity.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Is Dexamethasone Helpful in Reducing Perihematoma Edema and for the Outcome of Intracerebral Hemorrhage?Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Sex-specific effects of methylprednisolone on outcomes after endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion: A secondary analysis of the MARVEL trial.Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2026Article
- Intraparenchymal B cell therapy protects neurological function and modulates local neuroinflammation in experimental hemorrhagic stroke.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Safety and Effectiveness of Perispinal Etanercept for Post-Stroke Recovery: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- RSV Infection and Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Hypothesis of Energy Metabolism Disruption via the Lung-Brain Axis.Aging and disease · 2025Review
- Conservative therapy of epidural hematoma with atorvastatin combined with glucocorticoids: cases report and literature review.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Article
- Theory of arterial acceleration: implications for transcranial Doppler monitoring in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Dexmedetomidine Improves BBB and Neuronal Damage in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage by Repressing S100A4-Mediated Astrocytic Reactivity.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis SocietyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCorticosteroids are frequently used in practice to treat patients with neurological disorders. However, its effect for stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains controversial. This study aimed to systematically review and evaluate efficacy and safety of corticosteroids for the treatment of stroke and TBI.
methodsWe searched Ovid-Medline and Ovid-Embase databases for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of corticosteroids in patients with ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) or TBI. The treatment intervention was corticosteroid, and the control was placebo or routine care. Outcome measures were death, functional outcomes and adverse events. We calculated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the effect size, pooled the results using random-effects modelling, and assessed heterogeneity by I
resultsWe identified 47 studies (41 RCTs and 6 cohort studies). Nine studies enrolled patients with ischaemic stroke (n = 2806), 6 studies for ICH (n = 1229), 1 study recruited both ischaemic stroke (n = 13) and ICH (n = 27), 10 studies for SAH (n = 1318) and 21 studies for TBI (n = 12,414). Dexamethasone was the most used corticosteroid (28 studies). Corticosteroids reduced risk of death at 3 months after ischaemic stroke (n = 1791; 31% vs. 26%, OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.62-0.95; df = 1, I
conclusionCorticosteroids reduced the risk of death and in selected patients with stroke, such as those with large artery occlusion after thrombectomy, but increased the risk of death after TBI, had no effect on functional outcomes. Further trials are needed to identify individual stroke patients who may benefit from corticosteroids. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42023474473).
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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.