Improved pregnancy outcome following successful treatment of chlamydial infection
I. Cohen, J. C. Veille and B. M. Calkins
Department of Reproductive Biology, MacDonald Hospital for Women, Cleveland, Ohio.
Pregnancy outcomes of 244 women, successfully treated with erythromycin
ethylsuccinate for cervical chlamydial infection, were compared with those
of 79 chlamydia-positive pregnant women, who failed to respond to
treatment, and 244 chlamydia-free control women, who were not treated. The
three groups were at high risk for infection with Chlamydia trachomatis.
The frequencies of premature rupture of the membranes, premature
contractions, and small-for-gestational-age infants were significantly
lower in the successfully treated patients when compared with those of the
chlamydia-positive patients, but were not significantly different when
compared with those of the control patients. These data indicate that in a
pregnant population at high risk for infection with C trachomatis, repeated
prenatal chlamydial testing, plus successful erythromycin treatment, can
significantly reduce certain adverse effects on pregnancy outcome.
