Deflazacort: therapeutic index, relative potency and equivalent doses versus other corticosteroids

BACKGROUND: Deflazacort is a synthetic corticosteroid characterized by a favourable pharmacokinetic profile, peculiar pharmacodynamic properties and a good safety profile. However, to the best of our knowledge, no dose-conversion table based on direct comparison of relative potencies between deflazacort and other main corticosteroids is currently available in scientific literature. MAIN BODY: This paper, while reporting a brief review of deflazacort pharmacological properties, its efficacy and tolerability in different clinical areas, has been designed with the specific aim of providing a new dose-conversion table of corticosteroids, including for the first time also deflazacort. SHORT CONCLUSION: We suggest that this new conversion table could be a useful tool for physicians who need to select the appropriate dose of deflazacort in their clinical practice.