Somatostatin analog therapy for severe polycystic liver disease: results after 2 years

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Somatostatin, published as a randomized controlled trial.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as teenagers, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, open-label, placebo-controlled and crossover.

Because people in this Somatostatin study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Somatostatin study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Everyone knew when Somatostatin was being given (open label), which is simpler to run but leaves more room for expectations to affect what is reported.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Somatostatin, giving a reference point.

The primary end point was change in total liver volume (TLV) measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); secondary end points were changes in total kidney volume (TKV) measured by MRI, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), quality of life (QOL), safety, vital signs and laboratory parameters.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Cysts, Glomerular Filtration Rate, Hormones, Kidney Diseases, Liver Diseases, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Prognosis.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and open-label study of Somatostatin.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 8 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2012 (Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association), a journal based in England.

More context: the Somatostatin compound page.