INCREASE IN PROTEINURIA DUE TO STEROID MEDICATION IN CHRONIC RENAL DISEASE

Two- to tenfold increases in proteinuria due to administration of corticosteroids were noted in 10 of 21 children with chronic renal disease. All of these children received medication intermittently and the changes of proteinuria occurred aburptly from one day to another. Periods of steroid-dependent proteinuria were observed for various lengths of time. They did not necessarily last in a given patient as long as the proteinuria persisted. The mechanism of this steroid effect has not been clarified. If unrecognized, periods of hormone treatment may be unduly prolonged and doses unnecessarily increased. The usefulness of added immunosuppressive drugs coincident with simultaneous decrease in doses of corticosteroids cannot be evaluated, unless steroid-dependent proteinuria has been excluded to be present in that patient. © 1969 The C. V. Mosby Company.