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Review
. 2025 Jul 9;14(14):4876.
doi: 10.3390/jcm14144876.

Antenatal Corticosteroids in Early and Late Fetal Growth Restriction

Valentina Tosto  1 , Carolina Scala  1 , Nicola Fratelli  2 , Anna Fichera  2   3 , Alessandra Familiari  4 , Ambrogio Pietro Londero  1   5 , Luca Antonio Ramenghi  5   6 , Federico Prefumo  1
Affiliations
Review

Antenatal Corticosteroids in Early and Late Fetal Growth Restriction

Valentina Tosto et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Antenatal corticosteroids are widely used to prevent newborn morbidity and mortality in special obstetric circumstances, especially in preterm birth, but there are ongoing concerns about possible neutral or even detrimental short- and long-term effects in pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction. Fetuses with growth restriction may be a subset of preterm infants with a particular vulnerability to steroid exposure. The current scientific evidence on exogenous antenatal corticosteroid effects in this population is not conclusive. Gestational age (early versus late) is a critical issue to assess regarding their use as standard care in this special obstetric circumstance.

Keywords: antenatal corticosteroids; early preterm; fetal growth restriction; intrauterine growth restriction; late preterm; perinatal outcome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Plasma cortisol concentrations in fetal blood samples obtained from AGA and FGR fetuses. The difference between the medians is statistically significant (p < 0.05). Modified from [24].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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