Antenatal corticosteroid administration between 24 hours and 7 days before extremely preterm delivery is associated with the lowest rate of mortality.

Abstract

Commentary on:  Norberg H, Kowalski J, Marsal K, et al. Timing of antenatal corticosteroid administration and survival in extremely preterm infants: a national population-based cohort study. BJOG 2017.  doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.14545. [Epub ahead of print 15 March 2017]. Antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) reduce mortality in preterm infants.1 The association between timing of ACS and outcomes among extremely preterm infants has been sparsely investigated. In a recent large retrospective cohort study, higher odds for severe neonatal morbidity or mortality were seen in infants born at 24–33 weeks gestation with an administration-to-birth interval of ACS  7 days compared with 1–7 days.2 The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of ACS administration-to-birth interval on survival among extremely preterm infants. This population-based cohort study used data collected prospectively …