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Article: Repeat Courses of Prenatal Steroids Not Supported.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Family Practice News
- Article date:
- September 15, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Clinical trial data still 3-5 years away.
BETHESDA, M.D. -- Multiple courses of prenatal corticosteroids should not be given to women at risk for preterm delivery except as part of a clinical trial, a consensus development panel convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded.
The available data--consisting largely of studies that are small, retrospective, or hampered by methodologic inconsistencies--do not conclusively prove that routine repeat or rescue courses of steroids can either benefit or harm the mother and fetus, according to a statement issued by the panel.
Until data from a clinical trial show a favorable risk-benefit ratio, ...