OP-091 Neurodevelopmental evaluations in childhood of late preterms with and without antenatal steroid treatment

AimAntenatal steroid (ANS) administration has been widely used in the world and in our country since the 1990s in terms of reducing morbidity and mortality between 24–34 weeks of gestation. It was not recommended routinely in late preterm cases, stating that the late-term results should be monitored. Studies evaluating the long-term neurodevelopmental effects of ANS application in late preterms are limited. In our study, we aimed to conduct neurodevelopmental evaluations of late preterm infants with and without ANS treatment in childhood (6–9 years).Material and MethodOur study was planned as a retrospective cohort study. Infants born between 34–0/7 and 36–6/7 gestational weeks at our hospital between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2016, with (n=40) and without (n=40) antenatal steroid administration were included in the study. Between November 2022 and April 2023, neurodevelopmental assessment was performed using the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test in these cases aged 6–9 years.ResultsWhen the results of all cases were examined, it was found that the rates of developmental delays were 28,75% in verbal reasoning, 8,75% in visual reasoning and quantitative reasoning, and 21,25% in short-term memory. There was no statistically significant difference was observed between ANS(-) and ANS(+) groups in general developmental test scores. The incidence of advanced verbal reasoning in the ANS(+) group was found to be significantly higher than the ANS(-) group. Mean birth head circumference of the ANS(+) group was found to be significantly lower than that of the ANS(-) group. The presence of respiratory morbidities in the ANS(-) group was found to be significantly higher than in the ANS(+) group.ConclusionsIn our study, no significant long-term neurodevelopmental effect of ANS treatment in late preterms was observed. There are limited number of studies on this subject in the literature. We think that studies with more cases should be conducted to determine the neurodevelopmental effects of ANS treatment in the late preterm period.