AIMS: To review the demographic characteristics, antecedents and outcome for early neonatal Escherichia coli sepsis. Secondary aims were to identify antenatal antibiotic use and to review the antimicrobial susceptibility. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed for all infants with a positive culture for E. coli from either blood or ...

This study investigated the subjective experiences of the maternal role transition during the first two weeks of hospitalization for premature rupture of the amniotic membranes (PROM). Thirteen pregnant couples participated in the study by completing interviews. Average gestation of the expectant mothers was 27 weeks and the women were already ...

Histologic expressions of the fetal inflammatory response predict preterm delivery and neonatal disorders. We examined 1146 placentas in the Developmental Epidemiology Network data set for histologic evidence of membrane inflammation (subchorionitis, chorionitis, and chorioamnionitis) and fetal vasculitis (acute umbilical vasculitis or chorionic vasculitis). Our main findings are that (1) in ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to define the most critical gestation period for adverse effects of environmental toxics in terms of preterm delivery (<37 weeks) and low birthweight (<2500 g) in humans. STUDY DESIGN: From January 1, 1987 to December 31, 1989, 704 women were included in a ...

Rupture of the membranes before the fetus has achieved viability within the womb is an event of enormous importance for both mother and physician. The potential outcome ranges from fetal death, a frequent occurrence, to a severely disabled life or a happy (but rare) birth without any mental or physical ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine: a) to what extent application of antibiotics enhances efficiency of tocolysis; b) whether the duration of antibiotic treatment influences its efficacy; c) what criterion is decisive for efficacy of tocolysis assisted by antibiotic therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 223 successive women with ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between previous pregnancy losses and subsequent risk of preterm delivery. STUDY DESIGN: A population-based Swedish study including information on all births and women's hospital admissions for pregnancy loss (n = 601,883) in Sweden between 1987 and 2000 was performed. ...

Prematurity is the third leading cause of perinatal death, and preterm premature rupture of the membranes (pPROM) is associated with approximately 20-50% of all preterm births. The etiologic factors described for pPROM and preterm labor (PTL) are the same, although the clinical presentation (pPROM vs PTL) differs among patients. The ...

OBJECTIVE: Currently, physicians manage preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) by expectant management or termination of the gestation. A therapy aimed at sealing membranes would be optimal to maintain the pregnancy and achieve a normal neonate. Our objective was to compare an endoscopic technique for intrauterine closure of fetal membrane ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between preterm premature rupture of membranes, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and heat shock protein-70 gene polymorphisms in multifetal gestations. STUDY DESIGN: Buccal swabs from 101 mother-neonate pairs of multifetal pregnancies were tested for single nucleotide polymorphisms at position -308 of ...

OBJECTIVES: Recent advances in the physiology of human pregnancy have implicated placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) as one of the primary endocrine mediators of parturition and possibly also of fetal development. The aim of this study was (1) to prospectively assess the relationship of maternal plasma concentrations of CRH in the ...

OBJECTIVE:To examine maternal and neonatal outcomes in expectant management of spontaneous preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) before 24 weeks. STUDY DESIGN: Patients presenting with spontaneous PPROM from 14 to 23 completed weeks' gestation between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1999 were reviewed. A total of 108 pregnancies were ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to use a decision-analytic approach to explore the best strategy for the timing of the delivery of preterm intrauterine growth-restricted fetuses. STUDY DESIGN: We constructed a decision-analysis model that compared 4 antenatal fetal testing strategies The fetal/neonatal states that were compared included live ...

Male dominance being higher at preterm than term delivery was described in a population-based study by Vatten and Skjaerven [Early Hum. Dev. 76 (2004) 47]. A so-called "reversion" and "cross-over" in the sex ratio took place in preeclamptic gestations. These phenomena occurred earlier and stronger when associated with perinatal mortality ...

Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) occurs in 3% of pregnancies and is responsible for one third of all preterm births. PPROM will affect 120,000 women in the United States each year. It is associated with significant maternal, fetal, and neonatal morbidity and mortality resulting from infection, umbilical cord compression, ...

Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) occurs in 3% of pregnancies and is responsible for one third of all preterm births. In part I of this series, the definition, pathophysiology, and diagnosis of PPROM was reviewed. In this part, treatment is discussed. Adjunctive antibiotic and corticosteroid therapy has the strongest ...

BACKGROUND: Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PROM) is associated with one-third of preterm births. In about 50% of preterm PROM cases, the fetuses will elicit a fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS). FIRS is associated with the impending onset of preterm labor, periventricular leukomalacia, neonatal sepsis, and long-term handicap, including the ...

According to many studies, generalised periodontitis can be a risk factor for preterm birth (PB). A case-control study was carried out to examine if early localised periodontitis could be a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcome. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Postpartum women without any systemic disease were included into the study. ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between second-trimester uterine artery (UtA) Doppler measurements and spontaneous preterm delivery. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of UtA Doppler findings at 18-23 weeks' gestation in 234 singleton pregnancies with spontaneous preterm labor and 5472 pregnancies delivered at term. Cases with fetal chromosomal or structural ...

BACKGROUND: Our purpose was to determine whether AFI<5 cm after preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) is associated with an increased risk of perinatal morbidity. METHODS: We performed a prospective cohort study of 95 singleton pregnancies complicated by preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) with delivery between 26 ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare pregnancy and economic outcomes in women receiving inpatient vs outpatient tocolysis with continuous subcutaneous terbutaline (SQT). STUDY DESIGN: Identified within a database were women prescribed SQT at 24.0 to 33.9 weeks' gestation following stabilization of an acute episode of preterm labor. Women with cervical dilatation >3 cm, ...

An intensive debate is ongoing in this journal concerning the most appropriate endpoint after assisted reproduction techniques. The endpoint suggested by the first authors was Birth Emphasizing a Successful Singleton at Term (BESST). We have evaluated the most appropriate endpoint from different perspectives: patients, public, health authorities, obstetric and IVF ...

OBJECTIVE: We sought to test the hypothesis that nulliparous women with multiple gestations would be more likely to have shorter gestational durations, a higher frequency of previable deliveries, and fewer pregnancy complications when compared with parous women. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of women who delivered a multiple gestation ...

OBJECTIVE: The study was aimed to assess the impact of obstetric risk factors for preterm delivery among women with MacDonald cerclage performed due to cervical incompetence. STUDY DESIGN: A cohort study was conducted including all patients with MacDonald cerclage performed at 12-14 weeks gestation due to cervical incompetence (n = ...

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to evaluate the pregnancy and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). STUDY DESIGN: All pregnant women (12) who presented with SARS in Hong Kong between February 1 and July 31, 2003, were included. The pregnancy and perinatal outcomes were collected. ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy with which the absence of fetal breathing movements on ultrasound examination predicts spontaneous preterm birth in women with threatened preterm labor. METHODS: Data sources included Medline, Embase, Pascal, Biosis, Cochrane Library, Medion, National Research Register, SciSearch, conference papers, and manual searching of bibliographies of known ...

The influence of pregnancy spacing on preterm delivery (<37 weeks gestation) was examined in a group of mothers attending three Maternal and Child Health centres in three different districts in the city of Alexandria, Egypt between October 2001 and July 2002. All pregnant mothers attending the centres were interviewed or ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate prospectively cervical length measurements and fetal fibronectin detection as predictors of spontaneous preterm delivery in an unselected population of twin pregnancies. METHODS: Transvaginal ultrasound assessments of cervical length were performed serially at 18, 24, 28 and 32 weeks' gestation. Receiver-operating characteristic curves were generated at each time ...

PURPOSE: A major advantage of transperineal sonography (TPUS) is its ability to evaluate the cervix without causing any distortion. This study was performed to compare transvaginal sonography (TVUS) and TPUS at 24 weeks of gestation in predicting preterm delivery in low-risk pregnancy. METHODS: Three hundred fifty-seven pregnant women underwent TVUS ...

Objective: To study the clinical pattern of ophthalmia neonatorum with the aim of identifying its risk factors. Method: A case-control study of ophthalmia neonatorum (ON) was carried out in 5 hospitals in Kaduna metropolis in northern Nigeria. Two hundred cases were matched with two hundred controls. The male to female ...

Preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) is diagnosed when rupture of the amniotic membranes occurs prior to the completion of the 36th week of gestation. PPROM accounts for 25% of all cases of premature rupture of the membranes and is responsible for 30%-40% of all preterm deliveries. In mothers ...

Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is responsible for 30% of neonatal morbidity and mortality in premature gestations. We sought to evaluate pregnancy outcomes in PPROM managed uniformly with antibiotics and steroids, and to determine what maternal factors influence latency. This was a retrospective analysis of 134 patients at 24 ...

BACKGROUND: There is convincing evidence for a central role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in fetal and placental angiogenesis. Our present study was undertaken to examine the possible relationship between two common functional VEGF gene polymorphisms (- 634G/C and 936C/T), linked with altered VEGF gene responsiveness, and spontaneous preterm ...

OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess the gestational age at which elective delivery is considered in an otherwise uncomplicated patient with preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) by members of the Society of Maternal Fetal-Medicine (SMFM). STUDY DESIGN: A 3-page survey was mailed to members of the SMFM for this ...

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for recurrent preterm delivery among primiparous women with previous preterm delivery. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective case-control study was designed: 152 primiparous women who delivered preterm (22-36 weeks) were divided into two groups: 81 had a second preterm delivery (study group) and 71 had a second-term ...

OBJECTIVE: To find out the relationship between maternal anaemia and perinatal morbidity and mortality. METHOD: A cohort of 629 pregnant women was studied from October 2001 to October 2002. Of these, 313 were anaemic (haemoglobin <11 g/dl in labour and on two previous occasions in current pregnancy). A total of ...

The aim of this study was to ascertain any potential link between threatened miscarriage and obstetric outcome. Threatened miscarriage was associated independently with an increased incidence of abruption (OR 2.8, 2.0-3.7), unexplained antepartum haemorrhage (APH) (OR 2.3, 1.1-5.1) and preterm delivery (OR 2.0, 1.3-3.3). The incidence of low and very ...

Rupture of the fetal membranes is a common, but potentially serious complication of invasive fetal procedures. Quintero described a technique to seal the fetal membrane defect by means of a bloodpatch, usually called 'amniopatch' in this application. The successful use in two consecutive patients with ruptured membranes after a fetoscopic ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients with first-trimester threatened abortion are at increased risk for poor pregnancy outcome. STUDY DESIGN: A large prospective multicenter database was studied. Subjects were divided into three groups: (1) no bleeding, (2) light bleeding, and (3) heavy bleeding. Univariate and ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the association and its magnitude between prematurity and folate deficiency in women in their third trimester of pregnancy, and at labor. An incident case-control study was conducted using 2 controls per case. Data was obtained in a tertiary hospital in Valencia, Venezuela. ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between maternal and fetal carriage of different alleles of interleukin-4 and -10 genes and pregnancy outcome in multifetal gestations. STUDY DESIGN: Buccal swabs from mother-infant pairs of 73 multifetal gestations were assayed for polymorphisms at position -590 of the ...

Antenatal glucocorticoid therapy remains one the most striking successes in perinatal management of complicated pregnancies leading to premature birth. All women at risk of preterm delivery before 34 weeks gestation should be treated, given the anti-inflammatory and maturative properties of fluorocorticoids. Betamethasone is preferred to dexamethasone and no more than ...

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between history of induced abortion and preterm delivery in various parts of Europe, and according to the main cause of preterm birth. METHODS: We used data from a case-control survey, the EUROPOP study; 2938 preterm births and 4781 controls ...

To compare the perinatal outcome of singleton and twin pregnancies between natural and assisted conceptions. Systematic review of controlled studies published 1985-2002. 25 studies were included of which 17 had matched and 8 had non-matched controls. Very preterm birth, preterm birth, very low birth weight, low birth weight, small for ...

OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate whether serial amnioinfusions for persistent oligohydramnios can affect the perinatal and long-term outcomes in extreme cases of preterm premature rupture of membranes. STUDY DESIGN: All singleton pregnancies with preterm premature rupture of membranes at <26 weeks'gestation and lasting >4 days between January 1991 and December ...

OBJECTIVE: To estimate when rates of pregnancy complications increase beyond 37 weeks of gestation. METHODS: We designed a retrospective, cohort study of all women delivered beyond 37 weeks of gestational age from 1992 to 2002 at a single community hospital. Rates of perinatal complications by gestational age were analyzed with ...

Maternal infective processes sustained especially by Gram-negative anaerobic bacteria like periodontal disease, during pregnancy, have been demonstrated to perturb the physiologic course of parturition through inflammatory cytokine production, sometimes resulting in preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of membranes and preterm low birth weight. In a matched case-control study, the hypothesis ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of chorioamnionitis and antenatal corticosteroids on matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from preterm babies in the first week of life. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Regional neonatal intensive care unit. PATIENTS: Thirty five ventilated preterm babies < 33 weeks gestation, seven ...

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to assess contemporary outcomes in pregnancies managed expectantly after extremely preterm premature (< or =24 weeks) premature rupture of the membranes (EPPROM). STUDY DESIGN: We queried antepartum and ultrasound databases for patients with EPPROM. Data on pregnancy outcome and short-term neonatal outcomes were collected. RESULTS: ...

Preterm birth is a significant obstetric problem in high-income countries. Genital infection including ureaplasmas are suspected of playing a role in preterm birth and preterm rupture of the membranes. Antibiotics are used to treat women with preterm prelabour rupture of the membranes and results in prolongation of pregnancy and lowers ...