Indications:

• Allergic States: Control of severe or incapacitating allergic conditions intractable to adequate trials of conventional treatment in adult and pediatric populations with: seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis; asthma; contact dermatitis; atopic dermatitis; serum sickness; drug hypersensitivity reactions
• Dermatologic Diseases: Pemphigus; bullous dermatitis herpetiformis; severe erythema multiforme (Stevens-Johnson syndrome); exfoliative erythroderma; mycosis fungoides
• Edematous States: To induce diuresis or remission of proteinuria in nephrotic syndrome in adults with lupus erythematosus and in adults and pediatric populations, with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, without uremia
• Endocrine Disorders: Primary or secondary adrenocortical insufficiency (hydrocortisone or cortisone is the first choice; synthetic analogs may be used in conjunction with mineralocorticoids where applicable; in infancy mineralocorticoid supplementation is of particular importance); congenital adrenal hyperplasia; hypercalcemia associated with cancer; nonsuppurative thyroiditis
• Gastrointestinal Diseases: To tide the patient over a critical period of the disease in: ulcerative colitis; regional enteritis
• Hematologic Disorders: Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in adults; selected cases of secondary thrombocytopenia; acquired (autoimmune) hemolytic anemia; pure red cell aplasia; Diamond-Blackfan anemia
• Neoplastic Diseases: For the treatment of acute leukemia and aggressive lymphomas in adults and children
• Nervous System: Acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis
• Ophthalmic Diseases: Uveitis and ocular inflammatory conditions unresponsive to topical corticosteroids; temporal arteritis; sympathetic ophthalmia
• Respiratory Diseases: Symptomatic sarcoidosis; idiopathic eosinophilic pneumonias; fulminating or disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis when used concurrently with appropriate antituberculous chemotherapy; asthma (as distinct from allergic asthma listed above under “Allergic States”), hypersensitivity pneumonitis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) associated with hypoxemia occurring in an HIV (+) individual who is also under treatment with appropriate anti-PCP antibiotics. Studies support the efficacy of systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of these conditions: allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, idiopathic bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia
• Rheumatic Disorders: As adjunctive therapy for short term administration (to tide the patient over an acute episode or exacerbation) in: psoriatic arthritis; rheumatoid arthritis, including juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (selected cases may require low dose maintenance therapy); ankylosing spondylitis; acute and subacute bursitis; acute nonspecific tenosynovitis; acute gouty arthritis; epicondylitis. For the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis (polymyositis), polymyalgia rheumatica, Sjogren’s syndrome, relapsing polychondritis, and certain cases of vasculitis
• Miscellaneous: Tuberculous meningitis with subarachnoid block or impending block, tuberculosis with enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes causing respiratory difficulty, and tuberculosis with pleural or pericardial effusion (appropriate antituberculous chemotherapy must be used concurrently when treating any tuberculosis complications); Trichinosis with neurologic or myocardial involvement; acute or chronic solid organ rejection (with or without other agents)