| Popis: |
Introduction: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is the commonest chronic glomerular disease in children. Idiopathic NS can perfectly be controlled using corticosteroids in most instances, but a significant relapse rate of NS is still a major problem. Several treatment protocols are suggested to decrease relapse rate of NS in children. Objectives: The current clinical trial aimed at comparing the relapse rate between two 8-and 12-week steroid treatment regimens. Patients and Methods: In the current non-randomized, clinical trial, a total of 68 children with primary NS were enrolled. Oral prednisolone was administered to 34 patients for eight weeks (2 mg/kg/d and 1.5 mg/kg/alternate-day/each for four weeks) and other 34 patients for 12 weeks (2 mg/kg/d and 1.5 mg/kg/alternate-day/each for six weeks). A one-year follow-up was completed for all the patients to evaluate relapse rate, steroid resistance, and steroid dependence. Results: The remission rates were 47.1 and 73.5, respectively in children of the eight-and 12-week treatment groups because the difference was significant (P=0.026). The frequent relapse rates in the eight-and 12-week treatment groups were respectively 26.5 and 11.8. Steroid dependence rate was 17.6 and 8.8 in the eight-and 12-week treatment groups respectively. The steroid resistance rates were respectively 8.8 and 5.9 in the eight-and 12-week treatment groups. Conclusion: Twelve-week steroid treatment can significantly decrease the relapse rate in comparison with eight-week treatment because no significant difference in steroid resistance, steroid dependence, and frequent relapse between the two treatment protocols was observed. Trial registration: This study was approved by Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (identifier: IRCT201404269014N33; https://www.irct.ir/trial/9472). © 2020 The Author(s). |
