OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFICACY OF ANTENATAL STEROIDS FROM RANDOMIZED STUDIES OF SURFACTANT REPLACEMENT

Randomized controlled clinical trials have demonstrated that corticosteroids delivered to pregnant women at risk for preterm delivery can improve neonatal outcomes.(1-4) A recent randomized trial of the surfactant era determined that administration of antenatal corticosteroids plus postnatal rescue surfactant further reduces certain neonatal morbidities.(5) To aid the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference, five large clinical databases were queried for additional observational evidence about the effects of antenatal corticosteroids. This article reports results from one of the databases, accumulated from multicenter studies of a bovine surfactant preparation.