How Much Do Corticosteroids Raise White Blood Cell Counts?

We know that corticosteroids cause leukocytosis, but no large-scale studies have examined the timing and dosing response for corticosteroids in patients without infections. Researchers retrospectively evaluated 28,000 nonsurgical inpatients during 1 year in Cleveland Clinic's healthcare system. Patients who received no steroids were compared with those who received steroids (6% of the cohort); steroid recipients were stratified by daily dose (median prednisone equivalent): low (50 mg), medium (150 mg), or high (380 mg). Patients were followed for 4 days with daily white blood cell (WBC) changes averaged across each group. Patients with infection, immunosuppression, malignancy, or outpatient steroid use within 2 weeks of admission were exclu…