Plasma "cortisol" response to Synacthen in patients on long-term small-dose prednisone therapy.

Material Patients.-39 patients were studied, all but one of whom had taken prednisone 5 mg./day for periods of from 8 weeks to 8 years. One patient (Case 31) had her dose increased from 5 to 7 mg./day 8 months before the test. With the exception of two who had polymyalgia rheumatica, all had rheumatoid arthritis. Of these 39 patients, nineteen were selected at random and studied again after a year to discover the effects of continued or altered prednisone dosage upon adrenal function. Control.-Twenty normal hospitalized controls of comparable age range were studied under the same test conditions as the patients.