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4120812 
Journal Article 
Respiratory disease in very-low-birthweight infants after prenatal thyrotropin-releasing hormone and glucocorticoid 
Ballard, RA; Ballard, PL; Creasy, RK; Padbury, J; Gross, I; Et al 
1992 
1 
The Lancet
ISSN: 0140-6736
EISSN: 1474-547X 
IPA/92/999154 
VOL 339 ISS Feb 29 1992 
REF 29 
510-515 
English 
IPA COPYRIGHT: ASHP To determine whether combined prenatal therapy with protirelin (Thypinone; thyrotropin releasing hormone) and glucocorticoid would be more effective than glucocorticoid alone in reducing the incidence and severity of lung disease and other complications in very-low-birth weight infants, 404 women with threatened preterm delivery at less than 32 wk gestation received 2 doses of 12 mg of intramuscular betamethasone acetate in combination with betamethasone sodium phosphate (Celestone Soluspan) injection 12 h apart alone or with 4 doses of 400 mcg of intravenous protirelin injection every 8 h. During the neonatal period, 103 infants who were fully treated and of less than 1500 g birth weight were evaluated. Protirelin treatment (55 infants) did not affect the total incidence of respiratory distress syndrome. Chronic lung disease developed in significantly fewer protirelin treated infants. There were significantly fewer adverse outcomes in the protirelin group than in the betamethasone-alone group at 28 days and at 36 wk postconceptional age. It was concluded that prenatal protirelin reduces the incidence of chronic lung disease among betamethasone-treated infants.