Deflazacort--an alternative to prednisolone?

Deflazacort (Calcort--Shire) is an oral corticosteroid licensed for use in adults and children. When deflazacort first became available last year, the manufacturer claimed that the drug had a lower incidence of steroid-induced unwanted effects compared with prednisolone. However, this claim was later withdrawn at the request of the Medicines Control Agency following its review of the cited data. Current promotional material claims simply that deflazacort is "a new choice of oral steroid". Here we discuss whether deflazacort offers any advantages over established corticosteroid therapy.