Postnatal corticosteroids to treat or prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants

ABSTRACT

Background: the lungs of particularly newborn are fragile and can be easily damaged. With injury, scarring may follow which is translated into difficult breathing and increased oxygen needs, a condition called bronchopulmonary dysplasia [BPD] or Chronic Lung Disease [CLD]. Since inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of CLD, corticosteroids, especially dexamethasone, have been extensively used to avert or treat CLD. Thus, several studies suggest that systemic corticosteroids decrease the duration of ventilator dependence