The shot that saved preemie lungs
The 1972 Liggins and Howie trial that put antenatal steroids on the map, and what five decades of trials added.
Respiratory · Pharmacology & prophylaxis
Home Explainers
The explainer library
Read the study.
Question the story.
Each explainer pairs the reel with a written summary: what researchers asked, what they did, what they found, and where the evidence stops. Every page links to the original papers.
Every breath is a heart decision
In the preterm chest, every ventilator change is also a change to preload, afterload and pulmonary vascular resistance.
Respiratory · Hemodynamics
Why the vitamin K shot?
5.2 million US newborns, rising refusal, and what happened to infants who did not get vitamin K at birth.
Pharmacology & prophylaxis
Preterm PH isn't one disease
Why inhaled nitric oxide can rescue one hypoxic preemie with pulmonary hypertension and not the next.
Cardiac · Hemodynamics
Not all CPAP is equal
Bubble CPAP, RAM cannula, prongs and masks: the device and interface shape the pressure that actually reaches the airway.
Respiratory
Is saline really normal?
0.9% saline is the default NICU bolus. A look at the chloride it carries and when a balanced crystalloid may fit better.
Fluids
PlaNeT-2: when to give platelets
A higher platelet transfusion threshold seemed safer. In preterm infants, the trial found the opposite.
Transfusion
PREMOD2: cord milking vs delayed clamping
A trial stopped early for a safety signal, and what it found in extremely preterm and older preterm infants.
Delivery room
TOP + ETTNO: how low can hemoglobin go?
Two large trials asked whether higher red-cell transfusion thresholds protect the brains of extremely low-birth-weight infants.
Transfusion
BeNeDuctus + Baby-OSCAR: treat the PDA early?
Two trials tested early ibuprofen for the patent ductus arteriosus in extremely preterm infants. Neither found the benefit many expected.
Cardiac · Pharmacology & prophylaxis
Independent educational content, not medical advice. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the AAP.
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