title: Alternate-day versus intermittent prednisone in frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome. A report of "Arbetsgemeinschaft für Pädiatrische Nephrologie".
abstract: 23 children with frequently relapsing minimal-change nephrotic syndrome were treated with alternate-day prednisone (35 mg/m2/48 h) and 25 other patients were treated with intermittent prednisone (40 mg/m2 on three consecutive days out of seven) for six months. This was followed by six months without any maintenance steroid treatment except when relapse required a short period of prednisone therapy until remission. The number of relapsers was significantly lower on alternate-day than on intermittent treatment. In the alternate-day group, the number of relapsers and the rate of relapse was significantly less before treatment withdrawal; in the intermittent group, only the number of relapsers was reduced. An alternate-day regiment is therefore preferable to the intermittent regimen in the interrupted steroid treatment of children with nephrotic syndrome.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005860:Germany, West; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008297:Male; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D012008:Recurrence; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D013557:Switzerland; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011241:Prednisone