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Patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As a result of their impaired immune systems, many of these patients become infected with 'opportunistic' microorganisms that do not usually cause disease. The most frequent complication of AIDS is the development of a potentially fatal lung infection called pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Pneumocystis pneumonia eventually develops in almost 80 percent of HIV-infected patients, and in AIDS patients with respiratory failure, the fatality rate is 20 percent. A number of reports have suggested that the administration of corticosteroids, which decrease inflammation, may decrease the mortality rate of pneumocystis pneumonia and improve the gas-exchanging properties of the lungs. This study assessed the ability of oral corticosteroids to prevent the deterioration seen in AIDS patients with moderately severe pneumocystis pneumonia. Of the 18 patients treated with corticosteroids, only one (6 percent) developed early deterioration, as compared with eight (43 percent) of the 19 patients who received a sugar pill (placebo). All patients who initially received the placebo promptly responded to the corticosteroid treatment. Of those patients on corticosteroid therapy, all exhibited an increase in their tolerance to exercise. This study indicates that corticosteroids are useful in treating AIDS patients with moderately severe pneumocystis pneumonia. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)