Blood pressure support in extremely premature infants is affected by different courses of antenatal steroids

Objective: To examine the effects of partial, single and multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids (ANS) on the need for blood pressure support in extremely premature infants. Methods: Extremely premature infants with gestational age of 24 to 28 weeks were included in this study during a 5‐year period. The main outcome measure of the study was the amount of blood pressure support during the first 3 days of life. Results: The study infants (n = 163) were divided into: infants not exposed (ANS; n = 27) and exposed to ANS (ANS; n = 136). Blood pressure support was significantly lower in ANS compared with No ANS (65% vs 96%; p = 0.003) and in single course (SANS; n = 73) and ≥2 courses (MANS; n = 34) compared with partial course of ANS (PANS; n = 29) (62%, 56% vs 86%; p = 0.03). The number of infants who received volume support and the amount of volume support were significantly lower in ANS compared with that in No ANS (p