Indication
Cerebral Edema: Cerebral edema associated with primary or metastatic brain tumor, craniotomy or head injury. Use in cerebral edema is not a substitute for careful neurosurgical evaluation and definitive management such as neurosurgery or other specific therapy. Endocrine Disorders: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia; Nonsuppurative thyroiditis; Hypercalcemia associated with cancer.Primary or secondary adrenocortical insufficiency (hydrocortisone or cortisone is the first choice; synthetic analogs like dexamethasone may be used in conjunction with mineralocorticoids where applicable; in infancy, mineralocorticoid supplementation is of particular importance. Allergic States: Control of severe incapacitating allergic conditions intractable to adequate trials of conventional treatment in adults and children with: Bronchial asthma; Contact dermatitis; Serum sickness; Seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis; Atopic dermatitis; Drug hypersensitivity reactions. Rheumatic Disorders: As adjunctive therapy for short-term administration (to tide the patient over an acute episode or exacerbation) in: Post-traumatic osteoarthritis; Rheumatoid arthritis, including juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (selected cases may require low-dose maintenance therapy); Acute nonspecific tenosynovitis; Acute rheumatic carditis; Epicondylitis; Synovitis of osteoarthritis; Ankylosing spondylitis; Acute and subacute bursitis; Acute gouty arthritis; Psoriatic arthritis; Dermatomyositis, polymyositis. Collagen Diseases: During an exacerbation or as maintenance therapy in selected cases of: Systemic lupus erythematosus; Arteritis; Acute rheumatic carditis. Dermatologic Diseases: Pemphigus; Severe erythema multiforme (Stevens-Johnson syndrome); Mycosis fungoides; Severe psoriasis; Bullous dermatitis herpetiformis; Exfoliative dermatitis; Severe seborrheic dermatitis. Ophthalmic Diseases: Severe acute and chronic allergic and inflammatory processes involving the eye and its adnexa, such as: Herpes Zoster ophthalmicus; Chorioretinitis; Optic neuritis; Anterior segment inflammation; Keratitis; Retinopathy; Iritis, iridocyclitis; Diffuse posterior uveitis and choroiditis; Sympathetic ophthalmia; Allergic conjunctivitis; Allergic corneal marginal ulcers. Respiratory Diseases: Symptomatic sarcoidosis; Fulminating or disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis when used concurrently with appropriate antituberculosis chemotherapy; Aspiration pneumonitis; Berylliosis; Idiopathic eosinophilic pneumonias; Loeffler's syndrome not manageable by other means; Prevention of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. Hematologic Diseases: Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in adults; Secondary thrombocytopenia in adults; Congenital (erythroid) hypoplastic anemia (Diamond-Blackfan anemia); Pure red cell aplasia; Acquired (autoimmune) hemolytic anemia. Neoplastic Diseases: For palliative management of leukemias and lymphomas in adults; Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting; Acute leukemia in children. Edematous States: To induce diuresis or remission of proteinuria in nephrotic syndrome, without uremia, of the idiopathic type, or that due to lupus erythematosus. Gastrointestinal Diseases: To tide the patient over a critical period of the disease in: Ulcerative colitis; Regional enteritis. Other Uses: Tuberculous meningitis with subarachnoid block or impending block when used concurrently with appropriate antituberculous chemotherapy; Diagnostic testing of adrenocortical hyperfunction; Acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis; Trichinosis with neurologic or myocardial involvement.
