Abstract
Chronic lung disease in the extremely preterm baby is still a major complication in neonatal intensive care. Perinatal (ante- and neonatal) glucocorticoids are widely used to prevent severe infant respiratory distress syndrome and/or to reduce chronic lung disease respectively. A review of the literature regarding the cardiovascular side effects of antenatal and neonatal glucocorticoids is presented here.
Keywords: chronic lung disease, betamethasone, hypertrophy, protein/DNA ratio, Respiratory Distress Syndrome