Methylprednisolone and the adult respiratory distress syndrome
Date
1984-06
Authors
Du Toit, H. J.
Erasmus, F. R.
MacFarlane, C. M.
Taljaard, J. J. F.
King, J. B.
De Klerk, A. J.
Elk, E.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Open access journal
HMPG
HMPG
Abstract
Total hip replacement was carried out on 22 patients under general anaesthesia. Of these, 10 were pretreated with methylprednisolone (30 mg/kg); 1 of these developed the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and had high levels of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) 5 minutes after fixation of the femoral prosthesis and at the end of the operation. The other 12 patients served as controls; 5 of them developed ARDS and had statistically significant higher TXB2 levels than the other 7 control patients who remained well. All patients who did not develop ARDS had low TXB2 levels. TXB2 and β-thromboglobulin levels followed the same trend and there was good correlation (r = 0.6806; P < 0.01) at the end of the operation in the control group patients who developed ARDS. There was no statistical difference in 6-keto-PGF(1α) levels between the patients who developed ARDS and those in the control group who remained well. Steroids reduce arachidonic acid metabolism by inhibiting the release of substrate for cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase activity. Patients prone to ARDS thus benefit from methylprednisolone administration.
Description
The original publication is available at http://archive.samj.org.za/
Keywords
Methylprednisolone, Total hip replacement, Anesthesia, Respiratory distress syndrome
Citation
Du Toit, H.J. et al. 1984. Methylprednisolone and the adult respiratory distress syndrome. SA mediese tydskrif, 65(26):1049-1053