Does antenatal steroids treatment in twin pregnancies prior to late preterm birth reduce neonatal morbidity? Evidence from a retrospective cohort study

Purpose To evaluate whether antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) administration during the late-preterm (LPT) period in twin pregnancies is associated with decreased rate of neonatal morbidity. Methods A retrospective cohort study including a total of 290 women with twin pregnancies resulting in live births of 580 neonates who delivered during LPT period between 2016 and 2018 at a tertiary medical center. Patients were allocated into two groups according to ACS exposure. Obstetric and neonatal outcomes were compared between the groups. Primary outcome was neonatal composite respiratory morbidity, defined as the occurrence of at least one of the followings: RDS, TTN, O2 requirement, CPAP use or mechanical ventilation. Results Patients exposed to ACS were older and more commonly complicated by gestational diabetes compared to the non-exposed group. Moreover, women exposed to ACS delivered earlier (35.6 vs. 36.3 weeks,P < 0.001) and more frequently by cesarean section (76.4% vs. 54.1%,P = 0.002) compared to the non-exposed group. The rate of composite respiratory morbidity did not differ between the groups. Nevertheless, neonates exposed to ACS had higher rates of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission and hypoglycemia compared to neonates without prior ACS exposure (27.8% vs. 11.7%,P = 0.001; 49.3% vs. 27.1%,P < 0.001, respectively). Multivariable logistic regression revealed that gestational age at delivery was the sole independent risk factor for NICU admission, whereas late-preterm ACS exposure was the only risk factor for hypoglycemia. Conclusion LPT-ACS administration in twin pregnancies complicated by LPT birth in our study did not reduce neonatal respiratory morbidity but was associated with higher rates of hypoglycaemia.