Postnatal Steroids and Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Low Birth Weight Infants

This study from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, evaluated the neurodevelopmental outcome at one year of age of 118 ventilator-dependent, very low birth weight (VLBW, less than 1501g) infants treated with a 42-day tapering course of dexamethasone used to decrease the risk and severity of chronic lung disease. The study was randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled in design involving infants who were not weaning from assisted ventilation at 15–25 days of age. Treatment (n=57) and placebo (n=61) groups had similar baseline characteristics. Five infants randomized to dexamethasone had a major intracranial abnormality detected by ultrasound prior to treatment while 5 more dexamethasone treated infants developed such abnormalities after randomization. In the placebo group, 4 infants were similarly affected prior to randomization while 1 developed this complication after randomization. Survival at 1 year adjusted age was 88% for the dexamethasone group …