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Published in: Pediatric Nephrology 4/2016

01-04-2016 | Editorial Commentary

Should we stop dosing steroids per body surface area for nephrotics?

Authors: Guido Filler, Lisa A. Robinson

Published in: Pediatric Nephrology | Issue 4/2016

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Abstract

In this edition of Pediatric Nephrology, Vaishnavi Raman et al. have published an open-labeled randomized clinical trial of 100 children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who were allocated either a body weight- or body surface area-based prednisolone dosing for a duration of 12 weeks. The authors used Kaplan–Meier analysis for comparison of the time to remission. They also compared the relapse rate and found no difference. This editorial discusses the strengths of the current study as well some limitations. The inclusion of relapsing patients in the study protocol is problematic. The follow-up period of only 6 months forms another limitation. No subgroup analysis by age was performed. This editorial also highlights the lack of correlation between steroid dose and steroid exposure and the need for considering the age dependency (ontogeny) of drug disposition. Finally, the need for adherence to CONSORT criteria for reporting randomized controlled clinical trials is emphasized.
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Metadata
Title
Should we stop dosing steroids per body surface area for nephrotics?
Authors
Guido Filler
Lisa A. Robinson
Publication date
01-04-2016
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Pediatric Nephrology / Issue 4/2016
Print ISSN: 0931-041X
Electronic ISSN: 1432-198X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-015-3286-0

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