STUDY OF THE RESPIRATORY EFFECTS OF PREDNISONE IN DIFFUSE AIRWAY OBSTRUCTION

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Abstract
Prednisone was given to 14 patients with chronic pulmonary emphysema who had attained maximal improvement while in the hospital, and a comparison was made between its effect on their symptoms and pulmonary function tests. Although half the patients noted subjective improvement while receiving prednisone, none showed any significant change in pulmonary function tests, including both studies of air flow and gas exchange. Many patients had considerable "bronchospasm" which was partially relieved by epinephrine. However, it could not be predicted on clinical grounds which patients would respond to a bronchodilator and, furthermore, there was no relationship between epinephrine response and symptomatic improvement during steroid therapy. The present study was not designed to evaluate -the effect of steroids during acute exacerbations of chronic pulmonary emphysema. The failure of prednisone, in fairly high doses, to produce improvement in any of the objective tests of pulmonary function suggests that long-term steroid therapy is not justified in chronic pulmonary emphysema.

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