Use of corticosteroids in pregnancy-induced hypertension.

The first study on the use of corticosteroids to accelerate fetal pulmonary maturity reported an increased risk of fetal death in pregnancies complicated by hypertension-edema-proteinuria syndromes. Since that publication the use of corticosteroids to acclerate fetal lung maturity in women who are preeclamptic has been of great concern. This study provides evidence that when continuous fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring is used, the use of corticosteroids to accelerate fetal lung maturity can be considered even in the presence of severe preeclampsia.