Background and Objective: Growth failure is a well-known problem in BPD infants. Short-term catabolic effects of DXM therapy on growth in BPD infants are well established. In this study our hypothesis that DXM therapy also has a long-term effect on height growth was investigated in BPD infants during their first 2 yrs of life. Patients and Methods: Seventy eight preterm BPD infants were enrolled in the study (GA 25 to 32 wks; BW 640 to 1800 g). Groups were composed in 3 different ways: mild BPD (n=18) vs severe BPD (n=60); AGA (n=44) vs SGA (n=34); DXM therapy (n=43) vs no DXM therapy (n=35). Height was collected from medical records and expressed as Height SDS (HSDS) using Dutch references. Catch up growth (CUG) was defined as the increase in HSDS more than 0.5. For the whole population all different parameters mild vs severe, AGA vs SGA and DXM vs no DXM, appeared to be independent from each other (Chi-square test). Therefore their influence on height growth was analysed at birth (=0), between 0 to 6 months and between 0 to 24 months (T-test;regression analysis;MANOVA). CUG in the first 2 yrs was also investigated (T-test, Chi-square test and multiple regression analysis). Results: A significantly higher birth length was found in AGA vs SGA(P<0.001) and in mild vs severe BPD (p<0.05). In all 6 groups a decline in HSDS was found at the age of 6 months (corrected for age 3 months). This decline was significantly higher in the AGA vs SGA infants (p<0.005). During the first 24 months of all parameters only the SGA vs AGA showed a significantly higher CUG (p< 0.005). At the age of 2 yrs no significant difference was found in HSDS between the AGA and SGA infants. A significantly higher HSDS during the first 2 yrs and at the age of 2 yrs was found in the mild compared to severe infants (p<0.001). No difference was found in HSDS during the first 2 yrs of life and at the age of 2 yrs between the DXM infants and not DXM treated infants. In conclusion: DXM in the first weeks of life does not play an important role in HSDS and CUG in BPD infants during the first 2 yrs of life irrespective length of birth and the severity of BPD. Despite DXM therapy CUG in SGA infants is increased compared to AGA infants.