Journal
JOURNAL OF PERINATAL MEDICINE
Volume 37, Issue 2, Pages 130-134Publisher
WALTER DE GRUYTER & CO
DOI: 10.1515/JPM.2009.026
Keywords
Bacterial vaginosis; Gardnerella vaginalis; Lactobacillus crispatus; spontaneous preterm birth
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Health
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [R01 HD38856]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Aims: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) affects millions of women, is extremely prevalent and is frequently chronic. We recognize numerous microbiologic variations among women with BV and this variability may explain the limited effectiveness of metronidazole in curing BV and/or reducing the risk of spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) among BV-positive pregnant women. We assessed the independent role of seven common BV-associated bacteria on the risk of spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) among urban pregnant women. Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted within an urban obstetrics practice at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. Fifty pregnant women with documented singleton pregnancies between 25-36 weeks' gestation from February 2007 through June 2007 who presented to the Labor and Delivery Unit for evaluation of uterine contractions/preterm labor were enrolled. Results: We found that high median levels of Gardnerella vaginalis and low median levels of Lactobacillus crispatus were significantly predictive of SPTB. Slightly higher levels of Megasphaera-like species were also found among the group of women experiencing a SPTB during the follow-up period. Conclusions: Further identification of the individual attributable risk for separate BV-associated bacteria may be most useful in developing successful treatments to prevent SPTB among BV positive women.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available