title: Chronic asymptomatic Chlamydia trachomatis colonization of the fallopian tubes during the peripartum period.
abstract: Antepartum cervical Chlamydia trachomatis infection is associated with an increased risk of peripartum maternal and neonatal morbidity. Chronic chlamydial salpingitis has been described in asymptomatic women. We studied the incidence of asymptomatic chlamydial colonization of the fallopian tubes during pregnancy, and the influence of such infection on the patients' clinical course, by culturing the fallopian tubes of 53 asymptomatic women who underwent tubal ligation in the immediate postpartum period. One patient had a positive chlamydial culture in one of her tubes, and two others had histologic evidence of acute and chronic salpingitis. These patients had no infectious morbidity during the antepartum, intrapartum, or postpartum periods. Our findings suggest that asymptomatic chlamydial colonization and inflammatory processes may exist in the fallopian tubes during the peripartum period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Memorial Medical Center, Inc., Savannah.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neiger
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Croom
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005184:Fallopian Tube Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome