Early dexamethasone therapy in very low birth weight infants

The study by Durand et al in the April 1995 issue of Pediatrics on the effects of dexamethasone therapy for chronic lung disease (CLD) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants is no doubt of interest because it is the first to demonstrate that an early 1-week course of dexamethasone decreases the incidence of CLD. nevertheless, in terms of dealing with the side effects of dexamethasone therapy, the authors gave no details about the cardiac evaluation of the infants studied, even if an echocardiogram was performed before enrollment and at weekly intervals thereafter.