We hypothesized that a low dose of DEX will result in a comparable improvement in pulmonary function and will minimize the hematologic effects as compared to a higher dose. In this study, we compared the hematologic effects of 2 different dose regimes of DEX in VLBW infants (<1500 g, <30 weeks) who failed weaning from the respirator at 7-14 days of life. A prospective, randomized trial was performed. Seventeen infants received the high dose (HD) course of intravenous DEX (0.5 mg/kg/d for 3 days, 0.25 mg/kg/d for 3 days and 0.1 mg/kg/d for 1 day) and 18 infants received the low dose (LD) course of DEX(0.2 mg/kg/d for 3 days and 0.1 mg/kg/d for 4 days). Results are given in means (±SEM). We conclude that the HD of DEX affects the hematological system in greater degree than the LD of DEX in VLBW infants. We speculate that using the lowest effective dose on pulmonary function may minimize the hematologic effects of DEX in VLBW infants. Table

Table 1 No caption available.
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NS- not significant, WBC- white blood cells, ANC- absolute neutrophil count, I/T ratioimmature to total neutrophil ratio.