[A clinical analysis of 16 patients with maternal listeriosis]

To summarize the clinical characteristics and outcome of maternal listeriosis so as to improve the understanding of disease and the level of diagnosis and treatment.

Retrospectively, 16 cases of maternal listeriosis, who were treated at Peking Union Medical College Hospital between March 2007 and December 2014 were reviewed. Maternal listeriosis is defined when a pregnant woman presents with symptoms as listeriosis, meanwhile Listeria monocytogenes is isolated from sterile tissue or peripheral blood, or from a non-sterile site (uterus swab) or pathological evidence of chorioamnionitis. The neonatal listeriosis is diagnosed as acute listeria sepsis.

The mean age of these 16 patients was (30.0 ± 3.9) years old. There were 1, 8, 7 patients with listeriosis diagnosed in the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy, respectively. All had an acute onset of illness (≤ 2 weeks), the median time from onset to presentation was 2.5 days. Clinical manifestations included fever (93.8%, 15/16), leukocytosis (78.6%, 11/14), chorioamnionitis (77.8%, 7/9), gastrointestinal symptoms (37.5%, 6/16) and fetal movement decrease (31.3%, 5/16). Listeria monocytogenes were isolated from blood (6 cases), uterus swab (6 cases), blood plus uterus swab (1 case), and neonates (3 cases). All maternal cases recovered well after the termination of pregnancy, even none of them had received empiric antibiotics sensitive to listeria. A very high proportion of adverse pregnancy outcomes occurred (15/16, 93.8%). There were 8 fetal losses. Seven neonates were complicated with listeria sepsis and treated successfully.

The patients with maternal listeriosis commonly presented with acute fever and an extremely high incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes, however empiric antibiotics can hardly cover this pathogenic bacterium. So both pregnant women and clinicians should maintain a high level of vigilance against listeriosis and pay more attention to dietetic hygiene.