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Experience with oral betamethasone in extremely low birthweight infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia
  1. Tatiana Smolkin1,2,
  2. Irena Ulanovsky1,2,
  3. Huda Jubran1,2,
  4. Shraga Blazer1,2,
  5. Imad R Makhoul1,2
  1. 1Neonatology Department, Meyer Children's Hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
  2. 2Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
  1. Correspondence to Dr Tatiana Smolkin, Department of Neonatology, Rambam Medical Center, Bat-Galim, Haifa 31096, Israel; t_smolkin{at}rambam.health.gov.il

https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-306619

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    Postnatal dexamethasone (DEXA) for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) during the first week of life increases the risk of cerebral palsy.1 DEXA use beyond the first week of life also raises concerns as to neurodevelopmental outcome.2 Thus, a safe and efficacious alternative corticosteroid preparation is needed. We highlight the issue of postnatal steroid use in preterm infants, a rather important unresolved dilemma for the clinician. Starting January 2002, we replaced DEXA by oral betamethasone (BETA) for BPD. We report our experience regarding efficacy and safety of BETA in extremely low birthweight (ELBW) infants with BPD.

    During the study period, 291 ELBW infants <28 weeks were born, of whom 35 (12%) met inclusion criteria: birth weight 500–999 g; gestational age <28 weeks; mechanical ventilation ≥7 days; survival with BPD; need for >30% FiO …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors TS conceptualised and designed the study, drafted the initial manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. IU designed the data collection instruments, and coordinated and supervised data collection, critically reviewed the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. HJ designed the data collection instruments, and coordinated and supervised data collection, critically reviewed the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. SB carried out the initial analyses, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. IRM conceptualised and designed the study, drafted the initial manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Ethics approval Helsinki committee, Rambam Medical Center.

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