• Deborah M Feldman, Jeannine Carbone, Laura Belden, Adam F Borgida, and Victor Herson.
• Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA.
• Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2007 Sep 1; 197 (3): 284.e1-4.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to compare neonatal outcomes in very-low-birthweight infants who were exposed to antenatal betamethasone vs dexamethasone.Study DesignWe reviewed all inborn very-low-birthweight infants from January 1997 through February 2006. Maternal medical records were reviewed to determine the type of antenatal steroids that each patient received; neonatal outcomes were compared using chi-square and Student t tests.ResultsThere were 334 very-low-birthweight infants who met the criteria for evaluation: 186 infants received betamethasone, and 148 infants received dexamethasone. There were no differences in race, gestational age at delivery, or mean birthweight between the 2 groups. There were significantly lower rates of respiratory distress syndrome and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in the betamethasone group, compared with the dexamethasone group. Other neonatal outcomes were similar in both groups.ConclusionAntenatal betamethasone was associated with a significantly lower rate of pulmonary complications caused by prematurity, when compared with dexamethasone.

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