The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7293 p406
3 April 2004

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

  Acrobat Reader

News summary

Related websites
New England Journal of Medicine abstract (more)

Beware dexamethasone for lung disease of prematurity

Dexamethasone given shortly after birth to babies with extremely poor lung function has adverse effects on neuromotor and cognitive function by the time the recipients reach school age, researchers have found.

In a trial, administration of the steroid reduced the incidence of chronic lung disease in preterm infants. However, the researchers do not recommend this regimen because of adverse effects they found subsequently. In 146 children followed up to school age, those who had received dexamethasone at birth were shorter than controls; they also had poorer motor skills and motor co-ordination, and lower IQ scores (New England Journal of Medicine 2004;350:1304).