Annual influenza vaccination is strongly recommended for patients with chronic pulmonary diseases, such as bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and interstitial pulmonary diseases. However, many of these patients regularly receive systemic and/or inhaled corticosteroid therapy, and the impact of corticosteroid therapy on influenza vaccine efficacy and safety is unclea...

BACKGROUND Intralesional injection of corticosteroids is an effective treatment for tumors of the head and neck. Complications are rare but include permanent loss of vision. We designed a study to investigate the mechanism for this complication. METHODS Three fellowship-trained pediatric ophthalmologists participated in the study in a nonmasked fashion. Four patients received 5 separate treat...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Ongoing and severe systemic inflammation affecting critically ill patients may cause adrenal insufficiency and steroid resistance in target cells. As the appropriate diagnosis of this clinical entity remains a challenge, indication and practical use of corticosteroid replacement therapy in the critically ill is generally directed by clinical symptoms and features. RECENT FIN...

Central serous chorioretinopathy developed in 2 cases of retrobulbar neuritis during systemic treatment with corticosteroids. Fluorescein angiography confirmed leakage surrounded by central serous detachment of the retina. In one case the central serous chorioretinopathy recurred 3 times during 3 separate courses of treatment. Spontaneous recovery accompanied a reduction in steroid treatment to...

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) was first described in 1872 by Moritz Kaposi. Its epidemiology is suggestive of an infectious disease and in 1994 Chang and coworkers identified DNA sequences corresponding to a previously unidentified herpes virus--human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8)--in AIDS-associated KS biopsies. It is now believed that the presence of HHV-8 is a necessary condition but not sufficient on its ow...