Primal Health Databank: Study
| Entry No: | 0673 |
| Title: | Long-term outcomes after repeat doses of antenatal corticosteroids |
| Author(s): | Wapner RJ, Sorokin Y, Mele L, et al., Harding JE, Robinson JS; ACTORDS Study Group, Harding JE |
| Reference: | N Engl J Med. 2007 Sep 20;357(12):1190-8 |
| Place of Study: | USA |
| Abstract: | Women at 23 through 31 weeks of gestation who remained pregnant 7 days after an initial course of corticosteroids were randomly assigned to weekly courses of betamethasone, consisting of 12 mg given intramuscularly and repeated once at 24 hours, or an identical-appearing placebo. The authors studied the children who were born after these treatments when they were between 2 and 3 years of corrected age. Prespecified outcomes included scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, anthropometric measurements, and the presence of cerebral palsy. A total of 556 infants were available for follow-up; 486 children (87.4%) underwent physical examination and 465 (83.6%) underwent Bayley testing at a mean ( /-SD) corrected age of 29.3 /-4.6 months. There were no significant differences in Bayley results or anthropometric measurements. Six children (2.9% of pregnancies) in the repeat-corticosteroid group had cerebral palsy as compared with one child (0.5% of pregnancies) in the placebo group (relative risk, 5.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.7 to 46.7; P=0.12). CONCLUSIONS: Children who had been exposed to repeat as compared with single courses of antenatal corticosteroids did not differ significantly in physical or neurocognitive measures. Although the difference was not statistically significant, the higher rate of cerebral palsy among children who had been exposed to repeat doses of corticosteroids is of concern and warrants further study |
| Keyword(s): | betamethasone, cerebral palsy, corticosteroids, dexamethasone, glucocorticoids |
| Discussion: | No discussion mentioned for this entry |
| See Also: | No related entries mentioned for this entry |
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