Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition 2009;94:5-7
LEADING ARTICLES
Single versus multiple antenatal steroids in threatened preterm delivery: more benefit or harm?
1 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Rosie Maternity Hospital, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
Dr Gordon C S Smith, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Cambridge University, Rosie Maternity Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2SW, UK; gcss2@cam.ac.uk
Accepted 1 September 2008
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The first demonstration that antenatal maternal glucocorticoid treatment reduced neonatal morbidity was reported by Liggins and Howie in 1972.1 In the following two decades antenatal corticosteroid prophylaxis gradually found its way into clinical practice and had become an accepted part of the standard care by the early 1990s.2 3 It clearly reduces overall neonatal mortality, the risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and the need for respiratory support.4 It also decreases the risk of other complications of prematurity, including intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) and necrotising enterocolitis but not bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The current recommendation is to give two doses of 12 mg betamethasone, 24 h apart, to women who may deliver within 7 days and are less than 35 weeks pregnant.5–7 Most benefit is seen when delivery follows the second dose by more than 24 h; however, even an incomplete course reduces neonatal morbidity and mortality.8
There is a marked reduction in
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Drugs: CNS (not psychiatric)
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