Corticosteroids linked to cerebral palsy

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Multiple injections of corticosteroids are linked to an increased rate of cerebral palsy in children of mothers at-risk for preterm birth, a U.S. study says.

Study co-author Dr. John M. Thorp of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine followed women between 23 weeks and 32 weeks of pregnancy who remained pregnant after an initial dose of corticosteroids. They were randomly assigned to receive weekly courses of the corticosteriod betamethasone or placebo injections.

A total of 556 children born to women enrolled in the study were given physical and neurological examinations at ages 2 to 3.

The researchers found that there were no meaningful differences in weight, head circumference or Bayley Scales of Infant Development among children whose mothers received a single dose of corticosteroids. However, six children in the group whose mothers received multiple injections had cerebral palsy, compared to only one child in the placebo group.

"Although not statistically significant, the rate of cerebral palsy in infants exposed to multiple courses is of concern and suggests that exposure to repeat courses of antenatal corticosteroids should be limited," the researchers wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine.