Korean J Obstet Gynecol.  2000 May;43(5):863-870.

The Effect of Antenatal Corticosteroid on Perinatal Outcomes of Preterm Births

• Lee IS
• Shin SM
• Kang JA
• Won HS
• Lee PR
• Kim A
• Nam JH

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
To determine the effectiveness and clinical utility of antenatal corticosteroids in the reduction of neonatal morbidity and mortality on preterm birth Material and method: Neonatal outcomes of 312 preterm babies were evaluated retrospectively. One hundred and two preterm babies(study group) were given dexamethasone more than 1 dose antenatally and 210 preterm babies(control group) were not given dexamethasone antenatally. Antenatal steroids were administered in the form of four 5mg intramuscular doses of dexamethasone 12 hours apart. Maternal and neonatal outcomes of study group were compared with those of control group. Student t- test, x2 test, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression analysis were used where appropriate. p-value< 0.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS
Antentenatal corticosteroid significantly decreased the incidence of RDS(OR:0.47, 95% CI:0.25-0.86), IVH/PVL(OR : 0.32, 95% CI : 0.12-0.86), necrotizing enterocolitis(OR : 0.49, 95% CI : 0.25-0.98), and neonatal death(OR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.10 - 0.89) in preterm delivery. In the presence of PROM, antenatal corticosteoid seemed to have no protective effect on the neonatal complications such as RDS, IVH/PVL, NEC, PDA, and neonatal death. CONCLUSIONS: Antenatal administration of corticosteroids was effective to decrease the incidence of neonatal morbidity and neonatal mortality in the preterm neonates with no apparent maternal complications.

Keyword

Antenatal corticosteroid; Dexamethasone; Neonatal morbidity

MeSH Terms

Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Dexamethasone
Humans
Incidence
Infant
Infant Mortality
Infant, Newborn
Logistic Models
Mortality
Premature Birth*
Retrospective Studies
Steroids
Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Dexamethasone
Steroids