Long-term corticosteroid treatment in XXXX .

@entity1 @entity226 @entity228 @entity134 @entity617
Ninety @entity1 with @entity226 were followed up 9-16 years (median 11.3 years) after diagnosis. The mean duration of @entity228 therapy was 5.8 years (range 0-12.8 years). Together, the @entity1 had received corticosteroids for 492 @entity1 -years. Five years after diagnosis, 43% of the @entity1 were on corticosteroid therapy. After 9 years, 15 of 60 surviving @entity1 (25%) were still being treated with 1.25-10 mg of @entity617 daily (median dose 5 mg). The relapse rate was about 50%, regardless of the time after diagnosis, when an attempt to withdraw the treatment was made. Forty-six per cent of the relapses occurred within one month and 96% within one year of the end of treatment. Most of the flare-ups occurred during the first year of therapy and in 55% of the @entity1 on a @entity617 dosage of 5 mg or less. We did not find any increase in morbidity in our @entity1 compared to the general population. Nor did we see any significant complications which we could attribute to the @entity134 treatment.
