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Adrenal function in premature infants during inhaled beclomethasone therapy
1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Newborn Medicine, The Floating Hospital for Children at New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA.
Objective:
We tested the hypothesis that inhaled beclomethasone therapy for prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia does not cause adrenal suppression.
Study Design:
Infants receiving ventilatory support with birth weights
Results:
Beclomethasone therapy was associated with lower median basal cortisol levels (5 microg/dL beclomethasone, 6 microg/dL placebo, P =.04). IIHT revealed insignificant change in cortisol response within each group. Cortisol response to cosyntropin stimulation was similar for each group (17 microg/dL beclomethasone, 18 microg/dL placebo, P =.86).
Conclusion:
Beclomethasone therapy was associated with a small decrease in basal cortisol levels. There was no evidence of adrenal suppression in response to cosyntropin stimulation during beclomethasone therapy. Lack of cortisol response to hypoglycemia may reflect missed timing and/or decreased response of the premature infants' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to hypoglycemia.