ACTH AND CORTISONE AS ADJUNCTS IN THE TREATMENT OF ADVANCED PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS
- 1 February 1957
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American College of Physicians in Annals of Internal Medicine
- Vol. 46 (2), 332-341
- https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-46-2-332
Abstract
Three patients, all chronic alcoholics, with far advanced, active pulmonary tuberculosis, who became moribund while on antituberculosis therapy, were treated with cortisone or hydro-cortisone. Dramatic improvement followed as manifested by blood pressure, temperature, mental alertness, subjective well-being, ability to take oral feeding and to tolerate mobilization. Serial chest X-rays did not change during cortisone treatment in 2, and showed remarkable clearing in one patient. No evidence of spread of tuberculous process. Dosage did not exceed 200 mg of cortisone or 50 units of ACTH in a day (given intravenously, intramuscularly or orally). Duration of therapy was based on stabilization of clinical condition (21-31) days. No "rebound" was seen on gradual reduction and cessation of steroids. Improvement continued in the subsequent observation period. It is pointed out that animal experiments offer no reliable comparison for the clinical situation and that the fear of the use of steroids was mostly based upon experiences with drug-resistant or inadequately treated tuberculosis.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- THE EFFECT OF HYDROCORTISONE UPON THE COURSE OF PNEUMOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA TREATED WITH PENICILLIN1956
- TREATMENT OF A PATIENT WITH LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS AND PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS WITH ACTH, STREPTOMYCIN AND PARA-AMINOSALICYLIC ACIDAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1955
- EXACERBATION OF TUBERCULOSIS DURING TREATMENT WITH CORTISONEJAMA, 1952
- THE INFLUENCE OF CORTISONE AND STREPTOMYCIN ON EXPERIMENTAL TUBERCULOSIS IN THE ALBINO RAT1952
- QUANTITATIVE ANTIBODY STUDIES IN MAN. I. THE EFFECT OF ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY AND OF CORTISONE ON THE LEVEL OF CIRCULATING ANTIBODIES 1JCI Insight, 1951
- TREATMENT OF TYPHOID FEVER. II. CONTROL OF CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS WITH CORTISONEAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1951