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Blood pressure support in extremely premature infants is affected by different courses of antenatal steroids

G V Nair1, S A Omar

  • 1Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, College Of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48909-7980, USA.

Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|June 9, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Antenatal corticosteroids (ANS) significantly reduce the need for blood pressure support in extremely premature infants. Multiple or single courses of ANS are more effective than partial courses.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatalogy
  • Perinatology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Extremely premature infants often require blood pressure support due to physiological immaturity.
  • Antenatal corticosteroids (ANS) are administered to mothers to promote fetal lung maturation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of partial, single, and multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids (ANS) on the requirement for blood pressure support in extremely premature infants.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective study included 163 infants born between 24 and 28 weeks of gestational age.
  • The primary outcome was the amount of blood pressure support needed during the first 72 hours of life.

Main Results:

  • Infants exposed to ANS (n=136) required significantly less blood pressure support (65%) compared to unexposed infants (n=27, 96%).
  • Single (SANS, n=73) and multiple (MANS, n=34) courses of ANS were more effective than partial courses (PANS, n=29) in reducing blood pressure support (62%, 56% vs. 86%).
  • Volume support was also significantly lower in infants exposed to ANS and those receiving single or multiple courses.

Conclusions:

  • Both single and multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids (ANS) are effective in reducing the need for blood pressure support in extremely premature infants.
  • Multiple courses of ANS demonstrated comparable benefits to single courses in this population.
Abstract

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