Dexamethasone in infants with respiratory distress syndrome

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 155: 307

In a randomized, multicentre trial researchers in Israel treated 248 preterm infants who had respiratory distress syndrome with surfactant (100 mg/kg, up to four doses) and either dexamethasone (0.25 mg/kg intravenously every 12 hours) or a placebo for the first 3 days of life to determine whether dexamethasone therapy would reduce the incidence and severity of chronic lung disease. Although significantly fewer infants treated with dexamethasone required mechanical ventilation at 3 days than those who received the placebo, this difference did not persist. There were no significant differences between groups in survival without chronic lung disease. Infants treated with dexamethasone had a significantly higher incidence of gastrointestinal hemorrhage than those who received the placebo.

Source: Shinwell ES, Karplus M, Zmora E, Reich D, Rothschild A, Blazer S, et al. Failure of early postnatal dexamethasone to prevent chronic lung disease in infants with respiratory distress syndrome. Arch Dis Child 1996; 74: F33-7.

| CMAJ August 1, 1996 (vol 155, no 3) |