High dose methylprednisolone therapy in nephrotic syndrome

This study was done to determine the efficacy of oral high dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) therapy in the treatment of childhood nephrotic syndrome (NS). Fifteen patients were enrolled in the study. Patients were arbitrarily divided into two groups. Group I received prednisolone (daily 60 mg/m2 for 4 weeks, 45, 30, 20, 10, 5 mg/m2 on alternate days for 4 weeks) and group II received HDMP (30 mg/kg/d for 3 days, 20 mg/kg/d for 4 days, 10 mg/kg/ for a week, before 9 am, orally). The patients were followed-up for a duration of 38.0 +/- 5.5 months (range 24-68 months) in group I and 42.1 +/- 5.5 months (range 16-72 months) in group II. No significant difference was obtained in the duration of remission between both groups (p > 0.05), while HDMP induced early remission than prednisolone (p < 0.05). The mean relapse rate was 0.8/year in group I and 0.8/year in group II (p > 0.05). Although, the number of the patients were limited in the study it can be recommended that patients with NS can be treated with oral HDMP therapy as an alternative to standard oral prednisolone therapy.