Abstract
Thymic response to corticosteroid therapy for RDS was studied by measuring thymic width vs. transverse thoracic diameter on AP chest radiographs of premature newborn infants. Thymic-thoracic ratio (TTR) was evaluated in A)22 normal prematures, B)43 infants with RDS who received hydrocortisone or placebo postnatally (Pediatrics 50:526, 1972) and C)30 infants at risk for RDS treated with maternal betamethasone or placebo. In group A, TTR was unrelated to gestational age and was significantly smaller (mean 0.35) than in patients of group B and C with RDS, P< 0.025. On Day 1, TTR of steroid-and placebo-injected infants in group B were nearly identical (mean 0.42, 0.43) and declined at similar rates during the following 3 days to 63 and 69 percent of their original value respectively. Infants in group C who received betamethasone had a lower incidence of RDS than those given placebo. The TTR was significantly greater in patients who developed RDS(mean 0.42) than in those with normal lungs(mean 0.35),P<0.05.No relationship was observed between TTR and prenatal steroid dose or blood corticosteroid levels. The association of a high TTR and RDS suggest that steroids may have a parallel effect on thymus size and the pathogenesis of RDS. Hence measurement of TTR soon after birth could help identification of infants likely to develop RDS.
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Fletcher, B., Masson, M., Lisbona, A. et al. 957 THYMIC RESPONSE TO ENDOGENOUS AND EXOGENOUS STEROIDS IN PREMATURE NEWBORN INFANTS. Pediatr Res 12 (Suppl 4), 523 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00963
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00963
