Histological chorioamnionitis and neurodevelopment at 5 years of age among infants born very preterm: EPIPAGE-2...

To assess the association between histological chorioamnionitis without maternal clinical symptoms and neurodevelopmental disabilities at age 5 years in children born very preterm.

French national prospective population-based cohort study, EPIPAGE-2 (Etude épidémiologique sur les petits âges gestationnels).

All births from 22 to 34 weeks of gestational age in France in 2011 were eligible.

Infants born alive between 24⁺⁰ and 31⁺⁶ weeks following preterm labour (PTL) or preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROMs).

Histological chorioamnionitis without maternal clinical symptoms, also called isolated histological chorioamnionitis, was defined as the presence of neutrophils in the chorionic plate, excluding clinical chorioamnionitis.

Neurodevelopmental disabilities, a composite outcome including cerebral palsy, developmental coordination disorders, sensory impairment, developmental cognitive deficiencies or behavioural difficulties. These assessments were comprehensive, standardised and conducted by trained neuropsychologists and paediatricians at age 5 years.

Among 1296 children alive at 5 years of age, 486 (36.3%) were born in a context of isolated histological chorioamnionitis. Overall, 47% vs 33.6% of children exposed and not exposed to isolated histological chorioamnionitis had mild neurodevelopmental disabilities, and 13.8% vs 13.3% had moderate-to-severe neurodevelopmental disabilities. After multiple imputation and multivariable analysis, isolated histological chorioamnionitis was found not to be associated with the occurrence of mild or moderate-to-severe neurodevelopmental disabilities (adjusted OR: 1.0, 95% CI: 0.7 to 1.4 and 0.9, 0.6 to 1.2).

We did not find any association between isolated histological chorioamnionitis and neurodevelopmental disabilities at age 5 years in children born very preterm after PTL or PPROM.