Delayed (>3 weeks) postnatal corticosteroids for chronic lung disease in preterm infants

Many preterm babies who survive, having had respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) or not, go on to develop chronic lung disease (CLD). This is probably due to persistence of inflammation in the lung. Corticosteroids have powerful anti-inflammatory effects and have been used to treat established CLD. However it is unclear whether any beneficial effects outweigh the adverse effects of these drugs.

To determine if late (> 3 weeks) postnatal corticosteroid treatment vs control (placebo or nothing) is of benefit in the treatment of chronic lung disease (CLD) in the preterm infant.

Randomised controlled trials of postnatal corticosteroid therapy were sought from the Oxford Database of Perinatal Trials, the Cochrane Database of Controlled Trials, Medline, hand searching paediatric and perinatal journals, examining previous review articles and information received from practising neonatologists.

Randomised controlled trials of postnatal corticosteroid treatment initiated at > 3 weeks of age in preterm infants with CLD were selected for this review.

Data regarding clinical outcomes including mortality before discharge, failure to extubate, infection, hyperglycaemia, hypertension, severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), gastrointestinal bleeding, bowel perforation, echodensities on ultrasound scan of brain, need for home oxygen, glycosuria, need for late rescue with dexamethasone, cerebral palsy in survivors and blindness in survivors were abstracted and analysed using Revman 4.0.4.

Delayed steroid treatment had no effect on mortality. The only beneficial effects were reductions in failure to extubate by 7 or 28 days, need for late rescue treatment with dexamethasone, chronic lung disease at 36 weeks, and discharge to home on oxygen therapy. There was no increase in risk of infection, necrotising enterocolitis, or gastrointestinal bleeding. Short-term adverse affects included hyperglycaemia, glycosuria and hypertension. There was an increase in severe retinopathy of prematurity, but no effect on blindness. There were increases in long-term neurologic sequelae including abnormal neurologic examination and cerebral palsy, the latter of borderline statistical significance.

The benefits of late corticosteroid therapy may not outweigh actual or potential adverse effects. There is a worrying increase in adverse neurological outcomes in infants treated with postnatal steroids (see also Review of Early Postnatal corticosteroids). Corticosteroids should be reserved for infants who cannot be weaned from mechanical ventilation. The dose of dexamethasone and the duration of any course of treatment should be minimised.