To test the effects corticosteroids (steroid hormones used to treat inflammation), researchers conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in three Spanish teaching hospitals with roughly 120 patients with both severe community-acquired pneumonia and a high inflammatory response.
The patients were randomly assigned to either receive a placebo or methylprednisolone — a corticosteroid — for five days, beginning within 36 hours of admission. Patients were recruited and followed up with from 2004 to 2012.
The treatment failed for eight patients in the methylprednisolone group compared to 18 patients whose treatment failed in the placebo group. According to the researchers, using corticosteroids reduced the risk of treatment failure by 66 percent.
The in-hospital mortality rate and hyperglycemia levels were about the same in both groups.
Despite the positive outcomes and possibility that corticosteroids may regulate cytokine release in patients, the benefit of this adjunctive therapy remains controversial, according to the study.
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