© 1978 Oxford University Press
research-article |
HIGH-DOSE STEROID THERAPY OF INTRACRANIAL TUMOUR IN THE ELDERLY
University Department of Geriatric Medicine, Southern General Hospital Glasgow G51 4TF
Correspondence to: Dr F. I. Caird
Twenty elderly patients with intracranial tumour were treated with high-dose steroids (beta- or dexamethasone 1216 mg per day). Six of eight patients with primary intracranial malignancies and four of six with metastatic tumours showed a definite response of conscious level and/or neurological deficit. One of two patients with lymphoma responded but neither of two with meningioma. Six patients were able to return home. Two patients suffered serious, and three minor, side-effects attributable to steroid therapy, but this treatment has a definite place in the management of intracranial tumour in old age.