Rapid adrenocortical recovery after short-term glucocorticoid therapy

The recovery time of adrenocortical function was studied in 13 children receiving intermittent high-dosage glucocorticoid therapy (prednisone, 2 mg/kg/day) for one month out of every four months as treatment for acute leukemia. The data indicate that the adrenal gland's ability to respond to stress recovers rapidly from such treatment. The results of our study clearly show that routine supplementation with glucocorticoid therapy in these patients during periods of clinical stress occurring later than nine days after glucocorticoid therapy is not warranted.