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Volume 6, Issue 3 (Suppl)
J Neonatal Biol, an open access journal
ISSN:2167-0897
Neonatology 2017
December 04-06, 2017
December 04-06, 2017 | Madrid, Spain
20
th
International Conference on
NEONATOLOGY AND PERINATOLOGY
Antenatal steroids-Where are we?
Bikash Shrestha
Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal
E
arly steroids studies in fifties and sixties involved animals and the effects they had upon various organs. It was not until in
1969 when GC Liggins, while studying the effects of steroids upon the initiation of labour in fetal lambs, that he noticed the
steroids treated lambs not only had initiation of labour but they also had relatively more mature lungs and better survival. This
further led to studies, which directly showed the effect of steroids upon maturing lungs by accelerated surfactant appearance.
In 1972, landmark study by GC Liggins and RN Howie showed that steroids could reduce the incidence of RDS in preterm
neonates. This study led pathway to numerous studies all over the world showing effects of steroids in maturation of lungs.
However, they also showed caution regarding the potential adverse effects. In 1990, systemic review by P Crowley clearly
showed the beneficial effects of steroids in reduction of RDS withminimal adverse effects. Further, in 1994, consensus statement
by NIH gave the current recommendation and regimen for antenatal steroids for preterm deliveries. Further consolidation of
the positive effects of steroids was done by meta-analysis by D Roberts in 2000 and further in 2006. However, despite clear
evidence of beneficial effects, 2014 study in Lancet showed that the use of corticosteroids in lower income countries like Nepal,
Afghanistan, Niger, and Congo was low. The use of antenatal steroids must be encouraged especially in lower income countries
for reducing the neonatal mortality rates in these countries.
kalmaan@yahoo.comJ Neonatal Biol 2017, 6:3(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2167-0897-C1-006