Objective: To assess the efficacy of glucocorticoids on the treatment of severe viral hepatitis. Methods: A comprehensive search for articles from 1995 to 2010 was conducted from databases including PubMed,EMbase,Science Direct,Wanfang,VIP,and CBM. The last search was performed on 10th October 2010. The quality of included studies was critically evaluated. Data were analysed using the Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 5 software. Results: A total of 683 articles were retrieved,but only 12 were finally included. Compare with the control group,meta-analyses showed that the mortality in glucocorticoids group reduced by 36%(RR=0.64,95%CI=0.42~0.98,P = 0.04),the effective rate in glucocorticoids group increased by 63% (RR=1.63,95%CI=1.35~1.98,P < 0.01). Both of them have significant differences. Conclusion: Compared with the control group,glucocorticoids tends to reduce mortality and improve liver function. However,it is necessary to do more well-desinged multi-center large-scale randomized controlled trials to confirm this.