Antenatal corticosteroids given to women, who are 24 to 34 weeks pregnant and may deliver within the next 24 hours to 7 days, are associated with significant reduction in rates of respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular hemorrhage and mortality of pre-term babies. The aim of this study is assessment of antenatal corticosteroid effectiveness in reduction of RDS incidence in optimal delivery-treatment interval, in comparison to babies delivered before and after the optimal treatment interval has elapsed. This investigation included 80 pre-term babies between 26 and 34 gestational weeks whose mothers received corticosteroids before delivery. Control group consisted of 92 children of the same gestational age, whose mothers did not received corticosteroids antenatally. Babies of diabetic mothers, babies with IUGR and babies with congenital abnormalities were excluded. RDS was significantly less frequent in babies antenatally treated by corticosteroids (x2 31,473 p
Key words: antenatal corticosteroids, RDS.
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