The DART Study of Low-Dose Dexamethasone Therapy

To the Editor .— We read with interest the article “Outcome at 2 Years of Age of Infants From the DART Study: A Multicenter, International, Randomized, Controlled Trial of Low-Dose Dexamethasone” by Doyle et al.1 The authors reported on neurosensory outcome, growth, and health in 35 dexamethasone-treated children versus a control group of 35 children who were chronically ventilated. Of these children, 59 survived to 2 years of age and 58 were assessed at follow-up. One of the objectives of the DART (Dexamethasone: A Randomized Trial) study was to determine the long-term effects of low-dose dexamethasone. Unfortunately, the study had to be stopped at an inclusion rate of <10% because of difficulties in recruitment. The 70 included children were part of 192 eligible infants from 11 centers in 3 countries. Careful study of the characteristics of the included patients reveals that …