M. Decramer et al., CORTICOSTEROIDS CONTRIBUTE TO MUSCLE WEAKNESS IN CHRONIC AIR-FLOW OBSTRUCTION, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 150(1), 1994, pp. 11-16
Citations number
42
Categorie Soggetti
Emergency Medicine & Critical Care","Respiratory System
Twenty-one patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
or asthma, admitted to our division because of exacerbation of their c
onditions and requiring intensified treatment with corticosteroids, un
derwent pulmonary function tests, tests of respiratory muscle function
, measurement of quadricep strength, and a variety of anthropometric a
nd biochemical measurements. All tests were performed the 10th day aft
er admission. As expected, muscle strength and pulmonary function were
interrelated. Surprisingly, the average daily dose of steroids taken
in the previous 6 mo, which ranged from 1.4 to 21.3 mg (average 4.3 mg
), was significantly related to inspiratory muscle strength (PImax) an
d a similar tendency was present for expiratory muscle strength (PE(ma
x)) Multiple regression analysis of the relationship between PImax and
quadriceps force (QF) and steroid dose revealed that the average dail
y dose independently explained 32% of the variance in PImax and up to
51% of the variance in QF. These relationships were independent of the
degree of bronchial obstruction estimated by percentage predicted FEV
(1). Other significant determinants were age, sex, and COPD for PImax
and age, sex, and body weight for QF. The present study demonstrates t
hat in patients with COPD or asthma, respiratory and peripheral muscle
strength and steroid treatment are interrelated despite the relativel
y low doses administered. This observation imposes further limitations
on the prolonged treatment of chronic airflow obstruction with system
ic corticosteroids.