Impact of oligohydramnios on maternal and perinatal outcomes of spontaneous premature rupture of the membranes at 18-28 weeks.
OBJECTIVE
We compare the maternal and perinatal outcomes between 69 patients with oligohydramnios and 49 patients with adequate fluid at the time of initial evaluation for PROM.


METHODS
One hundred and eighteen patients with spontaneous premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) at 18-28 weeks are included in the study. Inclusion criteria are singleton gestation, normal fetal anatomical survey and normal amniotic fluid prior to PROM, and absence of labor or abruption at the time of PROM. Oligohydramnios is defined as an amniotic fluid index (AFI) <5 cm of measurable pockets of amniotic fluid which are free of umbilical cord. Expectant management was carried during the 3-year period. The overall perinatal survival is 66%. Pulmonary hypoplasia is present in 18%, and skeletal deformities in 3% of all neonates.


RESULTS
There is no significant difference between the two groups in the mean gestational ages at PROM (172+/-17 d vs. 171+/-14 d), latency periods (9+/-14 d vs. 8+/-13 d), incidences of chorioamnionitis (48 vs. 39%), endometritis (19 vs. 14%), neonatal sepsis (11 vs. 13%), or skeletal deformities (6 vs. 0%). Patients with oligohydraminos have significantly higher incidences of fetal heart rate decelerations (59 vs. 38%) and C-section (38 vs. 16%) (P < 0.05) than patients with adequate amniotic fluid.


CONCLUSIONS
After adjusting for confounding variables, neonates with oligohydramnios are twice as likely to develop pulmonary hypoplasia (20 vs. 10%) and more likely to experience neonatal death (30 vs. 20%) when compared to those with adequate fluid, even though the difference is not statistically significant.
Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, St. Louis University, Missouri 63117, USA. Shumway@slu.edu
J B
JB
Shumway
A
A
Al-Malt
E
E
Amon
B
B
Cohlan
S
S
Amini
M
M
Abboud
H N
HN
Winn
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005322:Premature Rupture of Fetal Membranes; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D016104:Oligohydramnios / Q000401:mortality*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D016019:Survival Analysis