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Published on: May 4, 2020
Steroids that induce lung maturation acutely affect higher cortical function: a fetal magnetoencephalography study
Uwe Schneider1, Christian Arnscheidt, Matthias Schwab
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany. Uwe.Schneider@med.uni-jena.de
Objective:
To investigate whether steroids that induce lung maturation have acute effects on higher cortical function in the human fetus.
Methods:
Cortical auditory-evoked responses (CAERs) were recorded from 10 singleton fetuses between 29 and 34 gestational weeks by fetal magnetoencephalography (fMEG) using transabdominal auditory stimulation prior to and within 3 hours after administering 2 × 12 mg of betamethasone, at an interval of 18 and 24 hours.
Results:
The components of the CAER complex were categorized according to their latency: P2pm (186 + 20 ms, 90%), N2pm (260 + 34 ms, 50%), P3pm (474 + 36, 50%). In almost all of these cases the peak latencies of the fetal P2pm (P = .042) and P3pm (P = .043) were delayed after exposure to betamethasone (Wilcoxon rank test). The trend was also observable in N2pm (P = .08).
Conclusion:
Administration of betamethasone to expectant mothers was associated with acute change in higher cortical functions in the exposed fetuses. Implications regarding functional brain development need further evaluation.
