Postnatal corticosteroids for bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Corticosteroids are used to improve lung function in infants who are progressing toward bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Corticosteroids facilitate extubation, but there is conflicting information about adverse effects on the developing brain. An approach to minimizing risk is to use low-dose, short-duration treatments in the highest risk ventilator-dependent patients. Questions remain about which corticosteroid is the safest and how to dose that corticosteroid.