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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
A Murine Model of Fetal Exposure to Maternal Inflammation to Study the Effects of Acute Chorioamnionitis on Newborn Intestinal Development
Published on: June 24, 2020
Effect of maternal clinical chorioamnionitis on neonatal morbidity in very-low birthweight infants: a case-control
Francesc Botet1, Josep Figueras, Xavier Carbonell-Estrany
1Neonatology Service, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. fbotet@clinic.ub.es
Aims:
To assess the relationship between maternal clinical chorioamnionitis and neonatal outcome in preterm very-low birthweight (VLBW) infants.
Methods:
An observational case-control study was conducted in the Neonatology Services of 12 acute-care teaching hospitals in Spain. Between January 2004 and December 2006, all consecutive VLBW (< or =1500 g) infants born to a mother with clinical chorioamnionitis were enrolled. Controls were infants without chorioamnionitis matched by gestational age who were born immediately after each index case.
Results:
There were 165 cases and 163 controls. A significantly higher percentage of cases than controls required intubation (53% vs. 35.8%), had normal intrauterine growth (98.1% vs. 84.7%), were born in a tertiary center (inborn) (95.1% vs. 89.1%), from single gestations (76.4% vs. 65.6%) and vaginal delivery (47.3% vs. 33.3%), showed a lower Apgar score at 5 min, and presented a higher rate of early-onset sepsis (10.4% vs. 1.2%). Older maternal age (32.5 vs. 30.8 years), premature labor (67.3% vs. 25.8%), premature rupture of membranes (61.3% vs. 25.8%), and antibiotic treatment (88.5% vs. 52.3%) were significantly more frequent among cases than controls.
Conclusions:
After controlling by gestational age, maternal chorioamnionitis was associated with neonatal depression and early sepsis but not with other prematurity-related complications.
