Maternal urinary tract infection and related drug treatments during pregnancy and risk of congenital abnormalities in the offspring

Objective The association between urinary tract infection (UTI) of pregnant women and preterm birth/low birthweight is known, but the possible association between UTI and congenital abnormalities (CAs) was evaluated rarely. Only one study showed an association with atrial septal defect, thus we decided to check this possible association. Design The population-based large data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities (HCCSCA); most maternal UTIs were based on medically recorded data. Setting The HCCSCA, 1980-1996, contained 22 843 newborns or fetuses with CAs and 38 151 matched controls, i.e. newborn infants without any HCAs. Population Hungarian informative offspring: live births, stillbirths and prenatally diagnosed malformed fetuses. Methods Case-control pair analysis. Main outcome measures Twenty-five CA groups. Results A total of 1542 (6.75%) mothers in the case group had UTI during entire pregnancy compared with 2188 (5.74%) mothers,in the control group (adjusted prevalence odds ratios [POR] with 95% CI: 1.15, 1.06-1.24). We did not find a higher prevalence of UTI during the second and/or third months of pregnancy in total case group (adjusted POR with 95% Cl: 1.1, 0.9-1.2) and in any group of CAs including atrial septal defect type if. Conclusions No evidence for the teratogenic effect of maternal UTI and related drug treatments during early pregnancy.