Cervical colonization with Ureaplasma urealyticum and pregnancy outcome: prospective studies

We have investigated the prevalence of endocervical Ureaplasma urealyticum and its association with abnormal pregnancy outcomes in two large unselected cohorts of pregnant women. The overall prevalences of infection in the two groups were 72.5 and 81.2%, respectively. In univariate analysis endocervical U. urealyticum was not associated with spontaneous abortion or preterm low birth weight. It was also not associated with low birth weight or postpartum endometritis/fever, either in univariate analysis or by conditional logistic regression. Endocervical colonization is not in itself a risk factor for ascending prepartum infection and abnormal outcome. For methodologic reasons prospective studies and treatment trials will not be helpful unless subgroups of infected women in whom the infection is a risk for adverse outcome can be clearly defined.