Indications
• Severe allergic reactions, e.g anaphylaxis
• Asthma
• Rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile chronic arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica
• Inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn\’s disease and ulcerative colitis
• Inflammatory disorders of the kidney, such as nephrotic syndrome and interstitial nephritis
• Inflammatory eye disorders, eg uveitis, optic neuritis
• Inflammatory skin disorders, including pemphigus vulgaris, bullous pemphigoid and pyoderma gangrenosum
• Inflammatory disease of the skin and muscles (dermatomyositis)
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Mixed connective tissue disease
• Rare condition involving inflammation in the walls of arteries (polyarteritis nodosa)
• Sarcoidosis
• Rheumatic carditis
• Cancer of the bone marrow (multiple myeloma)
• Acute and lymphatic leukaemia
• Cancer of the lymph nodes (lymphoma)
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura
• Anaemia caused by the immune system attacking red blood cells (autoimmune haemolytic anaemia)
• Helping to prevent the immune system attacking a transplanted organ, eg heart, liver, kidney etc.
Dosage & Administration
Adults: Usual maintenance 3-18 mg daily (acute disorders, initially up to 120 mg daily).
Child: 0.25-1.5 mg/kg daily (or on alternate days).
When Deflazacort is used for long term, the maintenance dose should be kept as low as possible. Dosage may need to be increased during exacerbation of illness. It should not stop taking this medicine suddenly if it has been taking for more than three weeks. This is because long-term use of corticosteroids can suppress the natural production of corticosteroids by the adrenal glands, which means that the body becomes temporarily reliant on the medicine. When it is time to stop treatment the dose should be tapered down gradually, to allow the adrenal glands to start producing adequate amounts of natural steroids again.
Hepatic Impairment: In patients with hepatic impairment, blood levels of Deflazacort may be increased. Therefore the dose of Deflazacort should be carefully monitored and adjusted to the minimum effective dose.
Renal Impairment: In renally impaired patients, no special precautions other than those usually adopted in patients receiving glucocorticoid therapy are necessary.
Elderly: In elderly patients, no special precautions other than those usually adopted in patients receiving glucocorticoid therapy are necessary.
Side Effects
Psychological problems, weight gain, GI disturbances, musculoskeletal, endocrine, ophthalmic, fluid and electrolyte disturbance, susceptible to infection, impaired healing, hypersensitivity, bone fractures, osteoporosis, edema, peptic ulcer, Cushing\’s syndrome, skin atrophy, striae, menstrual disturbances, telangiectasia, acne, myocardial rupture following recent myocardial infarction, thromboembolism.
Precautions
The following clinical conditions require special caution and frequent patient monitoring is necessary-
Adrenal suppression and infection, child, adolescents, elderly, history of TB and steroid myopathy, hypertension, recent myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, liver failure, renal impairment, diabetes mellitus and glaucoma (including family history), osteoporosis, corneal perforation, epilepsy, peptic ulcer, hypothyroidism, pregnancy and lactation.
Contraindications
Hypersensitivity to Deflazacort, or to any of the excipients. Patients receiving live virus immunization.
Use in Pregnancy & Lactation
Pregnancy: Deflazacort does cross the placenta. However, when administered for prolonged periods or repeatedly during pregnancy, corticosteroids may increase the risk of intra-uterine growth retardation.
As with all drugs, corticosteroids should only be prescribed when the benefits to the mother and child outweigh the risks.
Nursing Mother: Corticosteroids are excreted in breast milk, although no data are available for Deflazacort. Doses of up to 50 mg daily of Deflazacort are unlikely to cause systemic effects in the infant. Infants of mothers taking higher doses than this may have a degree of adrenal suppression but the benefits of breast feeding are likely to outweigh any theoretical risk.
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