Dexamethasone therapy and cortisol excretion in severe pediatric head injury.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_31461EEF424F
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Dexamethasone therapy and cortisol excretion in severe pediatric head injury.
Journal
Child's Nervous System
Author(s)
Klöti J., Fanconi S., Zachmann M., Zaugg H.
ISSN
0256-7040
Publication state
Published
Issued date
1987
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
3
Number
2
Pages
103-105
Language
english
Abstract
Glucocorticoids are used in an attempt to reduce brain edema secondary to head injury. Nevertheless, their usefulness remains uncertain and contradictory. In a randomized study of 24 children with severe head injury, urinary free cortisol was measured by radioimmunoassay. Twelve patients (group 1) received dexamethasone and 12 (group 2) did not. All patients were treated with a standardized regimen. In group 1 there was complete suppression of endogenous cortisol production. In group 2 free cortisol was up to 20-fold higher than under basal conditions and reached maximum values on days 1-3. Since the excretion of cortisol in urine reflects the production rate closely and is not influenced by liver function and barbiturates, the results in group 2 show that the endogenous production of steroids is an adequate reaction to severe head injury. Exogenous glucocorticoids are thus unlikely to have any more beneficial effects than endogenous cortisol.
Keywords
Adolescent, Brain Edema, Brain Injuries, Child, Child, Preschool, Clinical Trials as Topic, Dexamethasone, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Infant, Random Allocation
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
25/01/2008 11:06
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:16
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