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Antenatal steroid exposure and pulmonary outcomes in adolescents born with very low birth weight

Journal of Perinatology volume 33, pages 806–810 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To compare asthma history and pulmonary function in adolescents born prematurely with very low birth weight with and without antenatal steroid exposure.

Study Design:

We studied 188 fourteen-year olds (94 exposed, 84 male). We used parent report to ascertain asthma and asthma-related symptoms and spirometry to assess pulmonary function. Steroid-exposed and -unexposed groups were compared using Mann–Whitney U-tests (continuous variables), χ2 analysis (categorical variables) and logistic regression (multivariate analyses).

Result:

The steroid-exposed group had greater prevalence of larger airway obstruction (35% vs 21%), and steroid-exposed adolescents with birth weights <1000 g had 4.5-fold higher odds of larger airway obstruction. Wheezing in the past 12 months was two times as prevalent in steroid-exposed adolescents with birth weights between 1000 and 1500 g.

Conclusion:

Antenatal steroid exposure does not provide long-term benefits for pulmonary outcomes in adolescents born prematurely with very low birth weight in the era of surfactant therapy.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Ms Alice Scott, RN, for her hard work in recruiting participants and coordinating the project, Ms Patty Brown, RN, for her assistance in recruiting participants, the personnel of the Clinical Research Unit for their support with data collection and processing, and the participants and their families without whom this research would not be possible. This research was funded by NICHD PO1 HD047584, the Clinical Research Unit of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Grant MO1-RR07122, Forsyth Medical Center and the Wake Forest School of Medicine Department of Pediatric Research Funds. The sponsors had no involvement in the design, collection, analysis or interpretation of data, the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health and Exercise Science, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    P A Nixon

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    P A Nixon, L K Washburn & T M O'Shea

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  1. P A Nixon
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Correspondence to P A Nixon.

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Nixon, P., Washburn, L. & O'Shea, T. Antenatal steroid exposure and pulmonary outcomes in adolescents born with very low birth weight. J Perinatol 33, 806–810 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2013.69

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