Characteristics of infants grouped according to extubation within one week of dexamethasone (values are expressed as median with range or number and percentage)
| Extubation 6 days or less | Extubation 7 days or more | p Value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n=36) | (n=33) | ||||||
| Gestation (weeks) | 26 (24–31) | 25 (24–29) | 0.0017 | ||||
| Birthweight (g) | 925 (539–1845) | 810 (560–1260) | 0.03 | ||||
| Antenatal steroids (complete course) | 66% | 61% | 0.78 | ||||
| Respiratory distress syndrome | 81% | 80% | 0.44 | ||||
| Pneumothorax requiring intercostal drain | 3% | 21% | 0.01 | ||||
| Symptomatic PDA | 51% | 70% | 0.123 | ||||
| PIE on pre-dexamethasone x ray picture | 13% | 72% | <0.0001 | ||||
| Northway stage | |||||||
| 1 | 47% | 13% | |||||
| 2 | 23% | 56% | 0.005 | ||||
| 3 | 30% | 31% | |||||
| VI before dexamethasone | 46.8 (5.9–88.5) | 60.9 (19.8–104.0) | 0.02 | ||||
| Age at dexamethasone (days) | 11.5 (6–31) | 10 (3–31) | 0.06 | ||||
| Length of course (days) | 19 (3–43) | 30 (3–57) | 0.0903 | ||||
| VI at 36–48 hours (percentage of pre-dexamethasone VI) | 33 (0–74) | 58 (18–173) | <0.0001 | ||||
| Days to extubation | 3 (1–6) | 14.5 (7–46) | <0.0001 | ||||
| Corrected gestational age at extubation, weeks | 29.1 (25.9–33.0) | 29.0 (27.3–31.6) | 0.98 | ||||