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Letter
Doxapram for apnea of prematurity – the importance of maintaining equipoise
  1. Kelly K. Storm1,
  2. Anne Smits2,3,
  3. G. Jeroen Hutten4,5,
  4. Sinno H.P. Simons1
  1. 1 Department of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care, Division of Neonatology, Erasmus MC - Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  2. 2 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  3. 3 Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  4. 4 Department of Neonatology, Emma Children's Hospital, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  5. 5 Amsterdam Reproduction & Development, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  1. Correspondence to Kelly K. Storm; k.storm{at}erasmusmc.nl

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With great interest, we read the recent article by Tréluyer and colleagues.1 The authors investigated the long-term neurodevelopmental impact of doxapram for preventing apnea of prematurity in a population-based cohort study, using 2:1 propensity score matching. They found no association between the use of doxapram and neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 5–6 years in children born before 32 weeks of gestation.

Although the results provide insights into the use and impact of doxapram in premature infants, the authors’ statement that this study might reassure clinicians about the long-term consequences of doxapram in the treatment of apnea of prematurity is, in our opinion, debatable.

First, the lack of information about doxapram …

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Footnotes

  • Contributors The initiation of this letter arose from a collaborative discussion among all authors. KKS drafted the manuscript, with AS, GJH and SS providing significant insights and reviewing the content.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.