All issues > Volume 19(9); 1976

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1976;19(9):660-667. Published online September 30, 1976.

The Effect and Complication of Longterm Use of Corticosteroid in Children

Seung Joo Lee¹, Hae Sook Kwon¹, Esook Oh¹, Keun Chan Sohn¹

¹Dept, of Pediatrics, N.M.C.

Abstract

Since the demonstration of corticosteroid in 1949, there has been very widespread employment with optimism due to its dramatic effect in many patients suffering from nephrotic syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis, etc. But with increasing experiences of this regimen, seriaus side effects have been noted with longterm use. The effects and various side effects were observed in 92 patients of childhood nephrotic syndrome and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis who had longterm treatment for longer than two month. The treatment was withdrawn due to complete remission in 23 patients, unsatisfactory response in 18 patients and death in 3 patients. In the remaining patients, steroid treatment was continued for several months to several years with favorable response. Undesirable side effects and complications observed throughout this study were hypertention infection, growth retardation, mental disturbance, gastrointestinal trouble including peptic ulcer, osteoporosis, in order. From this study, it is considered that the treatment should be employed only on very restricted indications for its risk of considerable complication, and recently alternate day therapy was recommended due to its less side effects.

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