76 low dose dexamethasone facilitates extubation in ventilator-dependent infants - a multicentre international randomised controlled trial. the dart study investigators

Abstract

Background: Corticosteroids (CS) given after birth in ventilator dependent infants facilitate extubation and reduce the rate of chronic lung disease, whether they are given early, moderately early, or later in the newborn period. However, recent controversy about adverse long-term effects of corticosteroids on the brain have led to a decrease in the use of CS, or to prescribing of smaller doses than shown to work in the existing randomised trials. The DART study was an international multicentre randomised controlled trial that had as its main aim to assess the effects of low-dose dexamethasone on long-term survival free of major neurologic disability. However, enrollment had to stop when rec..