title: [Placental smears in a maternity ward. Importance of early diagnosis of neonatal bacterial infections caused by materno-fetal contamination].
abstract: Direct cytobacteriological investigation of the amniochorionic plate of the placenta has been used systematically in the Maternity Hospital as a test to detect amniotic infection. This test was practised on fresh placentae in the laboratory of Histology, preceding the examination of the placenta. The test gave, within 30 minutes of delivery, information about the presence of bacteria of fungi on the amniotic surface, their abundance and their morphology. The results of the placental smears were compared to the results of bacteriological cultures obtained from the placenta, the infant and occasionally the mother. The diagnosis of neonatal infection was established from clinical, biological and bacteriological criteria which were defined in advance. Two series are presented: the first concerns 2,514 cases selected in the delivery room over a period of 4 years for high risks infection, i.e. 1 in 6 of the 15,377 deliveries registered during this period. The rate of positive smears was 9%: 63% Gram positive, 17% Gram negative, and 20% mixed. The most common bacteriologically proven neonatal infections were streptococcus B (40%) and Escherichia coli (33%). The second is a prospective survey of 400 unselected consecutive cases observed during a period of 7 weeks: 1% of the smears were positive - and the test would have been justified in 1 in 5 cases. From these two surveys, it appears that placental smear is a good test to detect maternofetal contamination. The positive predictive value of the test is 80%. The negative predictive value is 98% and approaches 100% if cases where the mother received antibiotics before delivery are excluded.
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D005260:Female; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000032:analysis; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010920:Placenta / Q000382:microbiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies
vernacular_title: Frottis placentaires en maternité. Intérêt pour le diagnostic précoce des infections bactériennes néonatales par contamination materno-foetale.