Corticosteroid Therapy and Unintentional Camouflage

Abstract

suggests that medical reports should be interpreted in the light of performance in each treatment environment. If per¬ formance meets all expectations and measures well against known standards, methods should be changed only for good reasons; this is why we continue to use 1.5% formalin. Our experience indicates that change of methods leads to the appearance of unknowns; some may be good, but unantici¬ pated bad unknowns may result. The adverse environmental effects of formalin led to the development of other germicides for dialyzer processing. The CDC surveillance of 1350 US dialysis centers illustrates the appearance of an unanticipated adverse effect.! While there was no advantage in using renalin or glutaraldehyde, use of another germicide marketed as an alternative to formalin was associated with septicemia and an incidence of pyrogenic reactions much greater than previous¬ ly encountered. The data reported do not suggest any advan¬ tage in departing from the established germicide formalin.