[Results of the treatment of steroid-resistant and steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome with pulsed doses of prednisolone].

In 12 children with steroid-resistant and 17 with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome massive doses of prednisolone were used in intravenous infusions ("pulses"). In 8 children with steroid-resistant and 9 with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome very good or good results were obtained. The authors suppose that in a part of the children previous ineffectiveness of this immunosuppressive treatment could have been due to insufficient dosage. Rosette tests before and after pulses demonstrated a reduction of the total number of T-cells after pulses. The change of the ratio of theophylline-resistant to theophylline-sensitive lymphocytes suggests that this reduction was caused mainly by a fall of the number of helper T-cells and non-specific cytotoxic cells.