Blending science and compassion: The 30th educational symposium of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, San Francisco, USA, 10-14 February 2001

Table 2 Summary of the major studies on the use of steroids in the treatment of sepsis

Author	Treatment protocol	Outcome
Klastersky J et al 1971 [1]	Betamethasone 1 mg/kg for 3 days	No difference in mortality
Schumer et al 1976 [2]	2 part study:
	Part 1 (prospective study): dexamethasone 3 mg/kg or
	methylprednisolone 30 mg/kg or placebo	Decrease in mortality
	Part 2 (retrospective study) dexamethasone or
	methylprednisolone or placebo	Decrease in mortality
Lucas and Ledgerwood 1984 [3]	Dexamethasone 6 mg/kg for 48 h	No difference in mortality
Sprung et al 1984 [4]	Methylprednisolone 30 mg/kg, dexamethasone 6 mg/kg	Decrease in mortality
Bone et al 1987 [5]	Multicentre study
	Methylprednisolone 30 mg/kg 4 doses over 24 h	Increase in mortality
Hinshaw et al 1987 [6]	Methylprednisolone 30 mg/kg	No difference in mortality
Luce et al 1988 [7]	Methylprednisolone 30 mg/kg 4 doses over 24 h	No difference in mortality

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