[The use of low doses of prednisolone for the treatment of patients with Duchenne-Becker myodystrophy]. / Primenenie malykh doz prednizolona dlia lecheniia bol'nykh miodistrofiei Diushenna--Bekkera.

A special program for long-term application of low-dose prednisolone treatment in Duchenne-Becker muscular dystrophy with complex control of the patients' state was developed. Three-month cycles of prednisolone treatment alternated with three-month cycles of placebo during the year. Each patient received 0.5 mg/kg per day of treatment but with taking in account the alternate days, the daily dose diminished to 0.25 mg/kg/per day. 50 patients with Duchenne-Becker muscular dystrophy participated in this randomized double-blind controlled trial and up to now 3 of them were on the program about 1.5 year and 24 of them--about a year. Preliminary results show some beneficial effects in the absence of manifest side-effects.