[Local corticoid therapy in pediatrics]

During 1978 I carried out a clinical trial in my pediatric practice with the new corticoid dermaticum Alfason, which contains the active substance hydrocortisone-17 abutyrate--an ester of hydrocortisone not previously used therapeutically. To begin with Alfason was given in an open trial to 100 children and later, because of the favourable results obtained, it was employed in another group of 100 children in a double-blind trial against a fluorinated corticoid, a substance which up to then I had most often prescribed. The results showed a good to very good effect in over 90% of the cases treated with either drug, there was no substance related statistical difference. According to the literature the ratio of success regarding side effects is particularly favourable for Alfason so that its use in the treatment of corticoid-requiring dermatoses in childhood can be recommended.