Antenatal corticosteroids increase fetal, but not postnatal, pulmonary blood flow in sheep

Abstract

The lungs of very preterm infants have immature airways and gas exchange structures and are usually surfactant deficient. Antenatal corticosteroids are commonly used to enhance fetal lung maturation in preterm infants, but little is known of their effects on pulmonary blood flow (PBF) before and immediately after birth. Our aim was to determine the effects of antenatal betamethasone on PBF before birth and during the postnatal transition in very preterm lambs. Antenatal betamethasone treatment significantly increased mean fetal PBF from 20.2 ± 5.1 to 84.3 ± 18.3 mL/min at 30 h after administration; the PBF waveform was also significantly altered. Mean diastolic PBF increased from -38.5 ± 4.9..