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Table 1 Completed Trials for Sialorrhea

From: RimabotulinumtoxinB in sialorrhea: systematic review of clinical trials

Study

Design/Duration

Objective

N

Patient Population

Intervention

Glands injected

Efficacy Outcomes

Safety Outcomes

Chinnapongse R, et al; 2012 [24]

Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, sequential-dose escalation design

Evaluate safety, tolerability and efficacy of three BoNT-B doses subjects with sialorrhea

N = 54

PD subjects with troublesome sialorrhea

BoNT-B doses:

1500 units; 2500 units; or 3500 units or placebo

PG and SMG

4 weeks post injection-significant improvement in DFSS and USFR. placebo

(p ≤ 0.0009)

No serious AEs attributed to BoNT-B

Guidubaldi A, et al; 2011 [25]

Prospective, randomized, double-blind, crossover pilot study

Evaluate efficacy and tolerability of BoNT-A versus BoNT-B for the treatment of sialorrhea

N = 27

Patients with ALS or PD

(n = 15 ALS; n = 12 PD) enrolled,

250 units BoNT-A

2500 units BoNT-B

Ultrasound-guided injections into parotid and submandibular glands performed

B/L PG and SMG

Subjective and objective improvements in all patients

Shorter latency to response with BoNT-B Similar mean benefit duration similar

Only toxin-related side effect was a change in saliva thickness

Jackson CE, et all; 2009 [26]

Double-blind, randomized study

Determine patient perception of benefit of BoNT-B treatment for sialorrhea in ALS patients

N = 20

ALS patients with sialorrhea refractory to medical therapy

2500 units of BoNT-B

B/L PG and SMG

Global impression of improvement of 82% at 2 weeks vs. 38% placebo group (p < 0.05)

Significant effect sustained at 4 weeks, with continued improvement at 12 wees (in 50% of patients)

No significant AEs (including dysphagia) reported

Ondo, et al; 2004 [27]

Double-blind placebo-controlled

Determine whether BoNT-B is safe and effective for sialorrhea in patients with PD

N = 16

PD subjects with problematic sialorrhea

1000 units BoNT-B into each parotid gland and 250 units into each submandibular gland) or placebo

PG and SMG

Improvement on the Visual Analogue Scale,global impressions of change, Drooling Rating Scale and DSFS in BoNT-B

Adverse events were considered mild

Lagalla G, et al; 2009 [28]

Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study

Investigate safety, efficacy and effectiveness of BoNT-B into the parotid glands to reduce drooling in PD subjects

N = 36

Advanced phase PD subjects who complained of disabling drooling

4000 units BoNT-B or placebo

PG

BTX-B patients showed a significant improvement in almost all subjective outcomes

All BTX-B subjects reported sialorrhea reduction (moderate in 44.4%, and marked in 33.3%), vs 61.1% controls who denied benefit Benefits lasted on average 19.2 +/- 6.3 weeks in the BTX-B)

Three BoNT-B patients complained of mild, transient

swallowing difficulties starting 10 days after the injections and recovering within 2 weeks

One BoNT-B patient showed a transient mild weakness of chewing.

Steinlechner, et al; 2010 [29]

Double-blind placebo-controlled

Patients were followed over 16 weeks

To evaluate the treatment effects, tolerance, and duration of BoNT-B in neuroleptic-induced (group 1) and PD-associated sialorrhea (group 2)

N = 9

Group 1: 4 patients

Group 2: 5 patients

2500 units BoNT-B) injected under ultrasound control

PG and SMG

“Large effect sizes* for improvement of sialorrhea” in patients treated with BoNT-B compared to placebo. Reduction of sialorrhea lasted for 8 to 16 weeks after a single injection.

No patient reported side effects.

  1. AE adverse event, ALS amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, B/L bilateral, BoNT-A abotulinumtoxinA, BoNT-B botulinum neurotoxin type B (rimabotulinumtoxinB), DSFS Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale, GI gastrointestinal, PD Parkinson’s disease, PG parotid gland, SMG submandibular gland, UPDRS Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, VAS-FD visual-analogic ratings of familial distress, VAS-SD social distress. * Effect size estimates of key measures as a descriptive approach using Cohen's d procedure were applied to measure the magnitude of the treatment effect. Notably, these estimates are independent of sample size unlike significance tests. Small effect size of ≥0.2 and <0.5. Medium effect size of ≥0.5 and <0.8. *Large effect size of ≥0.8. Positive effect sizes implying a decrease of test value from T0 to T1, whereas negative effect sizes implying an increase of test value from T0 to T1, respectively