REVIEW - Use of systemic steroids in pregnancy: Be alert but not alarmed

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Australas J Dermatol. 2006 Feb;47(1):34-6.

Use of systemic glucocorticosteroids in pregnancy: Be alert but not alarmed.

Rennick GJ.

Department of Dermatology, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, ,

Australia.

SUMMARY Concerns have been raised regarding the use of repeated courses of

systemic glucocorticosteroids given to pregnant women with threatened

premature labour to improve fetal lung maturity. Most worrying are animal

studies showing detrimental effects on the developing brain, though human

data to date are conflicting. Additional concerns relate to the fetal

origins of adult diseases, particularly vascular diseases such as

hypertension and atherosclerosis. It is currently recommended that

obstetricians give only a single course of antenatal corticosteroids to

pregnant women to enhance lung maturity instead of giving repeated doses,

which was previously a common practice. Other clinicians including

dermatologists, gastroenterologists and rheumatologists may have reason to

provide systemic glucocorticosteroids to pregnant women. Although systemic

glucocorticosteroids all cross the placenta to some degree, the extent to

which they do so depends on the drug involved. The choice of systemic

glucocorticosteroid for the pregnant women in light of this evolving

literature is discussed.

PMID: 16405480

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstra\

ct & list_uids=16405480 & itool=iconabstr & query_hl=2 & itool=pubmed_DocSum

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