BACKGROUND: Glucocorticoids play a major role in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). However, supraphysiological doses can suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. HPA axis suppression resulting in reduced cortisol response may cause an impaired stress response and an inadequate host defence against infection, which remain a cause of morbidity and death. Suppression commonly occurs in the first days after cessation of glucocorticoid therapy, but the exact duration is unclear. This review is the second update of a previously published Cochrane review.
OBJECTIVES: To examine the occurrence and duration of HPA axis suppression after (each cycle of) glucocorticoid therapy for childhood ALL.
SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2016, Issue 11), MEDLINE/PubMed (from 1945 to December 2016), and Embase/Ovid (from 1980 to December 2016). In addition, we searched reference lists of relevant articles, conference proceedings (the International Society for Paediatric Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology from 2005 up to and including 2016, and the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology from 2014 up to and including 2016), and ongoing trial databases (the International Standard Registered Clinical/Social Study Number (ISRCTN) register via http://www.controlled-trials.com, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) register via www.clinicaltrials.gov, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) of the World Health Organization (WHO) via apps.who.int/trialsearch) on 27 December 2016.
SELECTION CRITERIA: All study designs, except case reports and patient series with fewer than 10 children, examining effects of glucocorticoid therapy for childhood ALL on HPA axis function.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently performed study selection. One review author extracted data and assessed 'Risk of bias'; another review author checked this information.
MAIN RESULTS: We identified 10 studies (total of 298 children; we identified two studies for this update) including two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed adrenal function. None of the included studies assessed the HPA axis at the level of the hypothalamus, the pituitary, or both. Owing to substantial differences between studies, we could not pool results. All studies had risk of bias issues. Included studies demonstrated that adrenal insufficiency occurs in nearly all children during the first days after cessation of glucocorticoid treatment for childhood ALL. Most children recovered within a few weeks, but a small number of children had ongoing adrenal insufficiency lasting up to 34 weeks.Included studies evaluated several risk factors for (prolonged) adrenal insufficiency. First, three studies including two RCTs investigated the difference between prednisone and dexamethasone in terms of occurrence and duration of adrenal insufficiency. The RCTs found no differences between prednisone and dexamethasone arms. In the other (observational) study, children who received prednisone recovered earlier than children who received dexamethasone. Second, treatment with fluconazole appeared to prolong the duration of adrenal insufficiency, which was evaluated in two studies. One of these studies reported that the effect was present only when children received fluconazole at a dose higher than 10 mg/kg/d. Finally, two studies evaluated the presence of infection, stress episodes, or both, as a risk factor for adrenal insufficiency. In one of these studies (an RCT), trial authors found no relationship between the presence of infection/stress and adrenal insufficiency. The other study found that increased infection was associated with prolonged duration of adrenal insufficiency.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that adrenal insufficiency commonly occurs in the first days after cessation of glucocorticoid therapy for childhood ALL, but the exact duration is unclear. No data were available on the levels of the hypothalamus and the pituitary; therefore, we could draw no conclusions regarding these outcomes. Clinicians may consider prescribing glucocorticoid replacement therapy during periods of serious stress in the first weeks after cessation of glucocorticoid therapy for childhood ALL to reduce the risk of life-threatening complications. However, additional high-quality research is needed to inform evidence-based guidelines for glucocorticoid replacement therapy.Special attention should be paid to patients receiving fluconazole therapy, and perhaps similar antifungal drugs, as these treatments may prolong the duration of adrenal insufficiency, especially when administered at a dose higher than 10 mg/kg/d.Finally, it would be relevant to investigate further the relationship between present infection/stress and adrenal insufficiency in a larger, separate study specially designed for this purpose.
Antecedentes: Los cursos largos de corticosteroides orales se usan comúnmente en niños en el manejo de condiciones crónicas. Se sabe que se producen varias reacciones adversas a los medicamentos (ADR) con su uso. Esta revisión sistemática tuvo como objetivo identificar las ADR más comunes y graves y determinar sus niveles de riesgo relativo. Se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica de Embase, Medline, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, CINAHL, Biblioteca Cochrane y PubMed sin restricciones de lenguaje para identificar estudios en los que se administraron corticosteroides orales a pacientes de 28 días a 18 años de edad por lo menos 15 Días de tratamiento. Cada base de datos se realizó una búsqueda desde sus fechas más tempranas hasta enero de 2016. Todos los estudios que proporcionaron información clara sobre ADRs fueron incluidos. RESULTADOS: Cien y un estudios que incluyeron 33 estudios prospectivos de cohortes; 21 ensayos controlados aleatorios; 21 series de casos y 26 informes de casos cumplieron los criterios de inclusión. Éstos involucraron a 6817 niños y reportaron 4321 ADRs. Los tres ADR experimentados por el mayor número de pacientes fueron el aumento de peso, el retraso del crecimiento y características de Cushingoid con las tasas de incidencia respectivas de 21,1%, 18,1% y 19,4% de los pacientes evaluados para estas ADR. 21,5% de los pacientes medidos mostraron disminución de la densidad ósea y 0,8% de los pacientes mostraron osteoporosis. La supresión bioquímica del eje HPA se detectó en 269 de 487 pacientes en los que se midió. La infección fue la ADR más grave, con veintiuna muertes. El varicela zóster fue la infección más frecuente (9 muertes). CONCLUSIONES: El aumento de peso, el retraso del crecimiento y las características de Cushingoid fueron las ADR más frecuentes observadas cuando se administraron corticosteroides orales a largo plazo a los niños. La mayor susceptibilidad a la infección fue la ADR más grave.
Resumen: Objetivo: El objetivo de esta revisión sistemática de la literatura fue evaluar la incidencia y los riesgos para los acontecimientos adversos (AA) asociados con los corticosteroides orales y parenterales. La evaluación se realizó para estimar los costos de tales acontecimientos adversos. Métodos: Una revisión sistemática de la literatura publicada desde 2007 hasta 2009 se llevó a cabo para identificar las tasas de incidencia y relaciones de riesgo de acontecimientos adversos relacionados con los corticosteroides. El protocolo de la revisión se desarrolló de acuerdo a PRISMA (Reporting Preferred Artículos para Revisiones Sistemáticas y Meta-análisis) directrices. La búsqueda bibliográfica se amplió para incluir los términos de búsqueda adicionales para las condiciones psiquiátricas, infecciones y úlceras pépticas. Costos obtenidos a partir de una revisión de la literatura narrativa separada se aplicaron a los AA que puedan afectar a terceros pagadores en los Estados Unidos. Resultados: Un total de 357 publicaciones fueron identificados a partir de la (n = 34) búsquedas primaria (n = 323) y secundaria. De estos, 310 fueron excluidos porque no evaluaron los EA relacionados con los corticosteroides, fuera un tipo de publicación excluidos, o por otras razones. Una lista final de 47 estudios fueron utilizados para la extracción de datos. Al otro lado de las poblaciones de pacientes, los más frecuentes eventos adversos corticosteroides asociadas fueron eventos psiquiátricos, infecciones, condiciones gástricas y fracturas. EA corticosteroides asociada reportados que se produzca una incidencia> 30% eran trastornos del sueño, la lipodistrofia, supresión adrenal, síndrome metabólico, aumento de peso, y la hipertensión. Las fracturas vertebrales fueron reportados con una incidencia de 21% a 30%. Las relaciones dosis-respuesta fueron documentados para las fracturas, infarto agudo de miocardio, la hipertensión y úlcera péptica. Los costes de gestión de los AA que pueden ocurrir con corticosteroides pueden ser sustanciales. La literatura informó costes de 1 año por paciente-de hasta $ 26,471.80 para el infarto de miocardio no fatal, y los costos por evento de hasta $ 18,357.90 para la fractura. Los resultados de esta revisión deben interpretarse con cautela debido a varias limitaciones, incluyendo el diseño retrospectivo de la mayoría de los estudios identificados, riesgo de confusión debido a la actividad subyacente de la enfermedad o de la población de pacientes, y el relativamente pequeño número de estudios que informó cada asociación AE . Como este análisis de costos era preliminar, un análisis farmacoeconómico integral debe llevarse a cabo para confirmar los hallazgos. Conclusión: En base a los resultados de esta revisión, los corticosteroides sistémicos son una causa frecuente de acontecimientos adversos que puede ser costoso para los contribuyentes.
Glucocorticoids play a major role in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). However, supraphysiological doses can suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. HPA axis suppression resulting in reduced cortisol response may cause an impaired stress response and an inadequate host defence against infection, which remain a cause of morbidity and death. Suppression commonly occurs in the first days after cessation of glucocorticoid therapy, but the exact duration is unclear. This review is the second update of a previously published Cochrane review.
OBJECTIVES:
To examine the occurrence and duration of HPA axis suppression after (each cycle of) glucocorticoid therapy for childhood ALL.
SEARCH METHODS:
We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2016, Issue 11), MEDLINE/PubMed (from 1945 to December 2016), and Embase/Ovid (from 1980 to December 2016). In addition, we searched reference lists of relevant articles, conference proceedings (the International Society for Paediatric Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology from 2005 up to and including 2016, and the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology from 2014 up to and including 2016), and ongoing trial databases (the International Standard Registered Clinical/Social Study Number (ISRCTN) register via http://www.controlled-trials.com, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) register via www.clinicaltrials.gov, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) of the World Health Organization (WHO) via apps.who.int/trialsearch) on 27 December 2016.
SELECTION CRITERIA:
All study designs, except case reports and patient series with fewer than 10 children, examining effects of glucocorticoid therapy for childhood ALL on HPA axis function.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:
Two review authors independently performed study selection. One review author extracted data and assessed 'Risk of bias'; another review author checked this information.
MAIN RESULTS:
We identified 10 studies (total of 298 children; we identified two studies for this update) including two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed adrenal function. None of the included studies assessed the HPA axis at the level of the hypothalamus, the pituitary, or both. Owing to substantial differences between studies, we could not pool results. All studies had risk of bias issues. Included studies demonstrated that adrenal insufficiency occurs in nearly all children during the first days after cessation of glucocorticoid treatment for childhood ALL. Most children recovered within a few weeks, but a small number of children had ongoing adrenal insufficiency lasting up to 34 weeks.Included studies evaluated several risk factors for (prolonged) adrenal insufficiency. First, three studies including two RCTs investigated the difference between prednisone and dexamethasone in terms of occurrence and duration of adrenal insufficiency. The RCTs found no differences between prednisone and dexamethasone arms. In the other (observational) study, children who received prednisone recovered earlier than children who received dexamethasone. Second, treatment with fluconazole appeared to prolong the duration of adrenal insufficiency, which was evaluated in two studies. One of these studies reported that the effect was present only when children received fluconazole at a dose higher than 10 mg/kg/d. Finally, two studies evaluated the presence of infection, stress episodes, or both, as a risk factor for adrenal insufficiency. In one of these studies (an RCT), trial authors found no relationship between the presence of infection/stress and adrenal insufficiency. The other study found that increased infection was associated with prolonged duration of adrenal insufficiency.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
We concluded that adrenal insufficiency commonly occurs in the first days after cessation of glucocorticoid therapy for childhood ALL, but the exact duration is unclear. No data were available on the levels of the hypothalamus and the pituitary; therefore, we could draw no conclusions regarding these outcomes. Clinicians may consider prescribing glucocorticoid replacement therapy during periods of serious stress in the first weeks after cessation of glucocorticoid therapy for childhood ALL to reduce the risk of life-threatening complications. However, additional high-quality research is needed to inform evidence-based guidelines for glucocorticoid replacement therapy.Special attention should be paid to patients receiving fluconazole therapy, and perhaps similar antifungal drugs, as these treatments may prolong the duration of adrenal insufficiency, especially when administered at a dose higher than 10 mg/kg/d.Finally, it would be relevant to investigate further the relationship between present infection/stress and adrenal insufficiency in a larger, separate study specially designed for this purpose.
