Meta-Analyses of Dexamethasone (Dex) Therapy Started in the First 15 Days of Life for Prevention of Chronic Lung Disease (CLD) in Premature Infants. 951

Growth restriction in dexamethasone‐treated preterm infants may be mediated by reduced IGF‐I and IGFBP‐3 plasma concentrations

“…Dexamethasone is a potent glucocorticoid commonly used in the prevention and treatment of chronic lung disease (CLD) of prematurity (Arias‐Camison et al ., 1998; Halliday, 1998). However, side‐effects such as retarded growth (Gibson et al ., 1993a; Skinner et al ., 1997; Shrivastava et al ., 1998), myocardial hypertrophy (Evans, 1994; Bensky et al ., 1996), hypertension (Marinelli et al ., 1997), adrenal suppression (Kari et al ., 1996), glucose intolerance (Ng et al ., 1992) and infection (Stoll et al ., 1998) are of significant clinical concern.…”