Publications by authors named "Leslie S Kerzner"

 To assess the impact of in utero co-exposure to psychotropic medications and opioids on the incidence and severity of neonatal drug withdrawal. Observational cohort study. Nationwide sample of pregnancies in publicly insured women in the US, nested in the Medicaid Analytic eXtract (2000-10).

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Objective: To provide absolute and relative risk estimates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) based on duration and timing of prescription opioid use during pregnancy in the presence or absence of additional NAS risk factors of history of opioid misuse or dependence, misuse of other substances, non-opioid psychotropic drug use, and smoking.

Design: Observational cohort study.

Setting: Medicaid data from 46 US states.

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Antenatal glucocorticoids are routinely given to women at risk for preterm delivery. The fetus is protected from excessive glucocorticoids by the placental enzyme 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11beta-HSD-2), which catalyzes the conversion of cortisol to its biologically inactive metabolite, cortisone. We examined the effects of antenatal dexamethasone on the expression of placental 11beta-HSD-2 in fetal sheep.

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