Study participants
Our unit is a metropolitan tertiary neonatal unit. All neonates
prescribed their first course of systemic dexamethasone to aid in
extubation from mechanical ventilation with evidence of BPD, who were
born at <30 weeks GA between January 2007 to December 2017 and
admitted to the GSNU, were eligible to be included in the retrospective
cohort study. The timing and dose of dexamethasone was determined by the
neonate’s treating neonatologist. The treatment plan was chosen from a
range of dexamethasone dosing regimens. Neonates who received
dexamethasone were identified using the NeoDATA database.
Inclusion criteria:
- born at 23+0-29+6 weeks GA,
- admitted to the unit,
- mechanically ventilated,
- received systemic dexamethasone,
- had or were at high risk of developing BPD
Exclusion criteria
- congenital airway or lung lesion,
- lung pathology other than BPD,
- GA <23 or ≥30 weeks,
- steroids given for stridor and/or subglottic oedema.
This study was considered exempt from full ethical review by the Royal
Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee with no
requirement for parental informed consent given the retrospective,
de-identified data collected.