International Journal of Women's Health and Reproduction Sciences, 2(7), p. 156-162, 2018
Objectives: The present study aimed at reviewing the existing literature on the effects of maternal corticosteroid administration on pulsatility index (PI) values in the umbilical artery and middle cerebral artery (MCA). Materials and Methods: The search for relevant materials on "evaluating the effect of corticosteroids on fetal circulation" included the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Science, Proquest, Google Scholar, EMBASE, and Iranian Databases of Magiran, Iran Medex, Barakat knowledge network system, Scientific Information Database, Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology, from 1990 to June 2017. Results: In our search for the relevant literature, 19 articles were found. In total, these studies included 654 pregnant women, who were evaluated for fetal circulation before and after corticosteroid (betamethasone or dexamethasone) injection, for PI values in the umbilical artery and MCA. The effects of steroid injection were evaluated between 23 and 34 weeks of gestation. Conclusions: Overall, the results of the reviewed studies indicated that antenatal exposure to corticosteroids reduces umbilical artery PI and MCA PI and improves fetal circulation during pregnancy.