Perinatal risk for mortality and mental retardation associated with maternal urinary-tract infections.
OBJECTIVE
The researchers analyzed the relationship between fetal exposure to maternal urinary tract infections (UTIs) and mental retardation or developmental delay and fetal death.


METHODS
A retrospective cohort design was used to explore the risk for fetal death and mental retardation or developmental delay associated with exposure to maternal UTI during pregnancy.


METHODS
Matched maternal-child pairs from the National Collaborative Perinatal Project (NCPP) from the decades of 1960 and 1970 were compared with a previous analysis of the South Carolina Medicaid Reimbursement System (Medicaid) for 1995-1996. Both data sets are representative of poor women and their children.


METHODS
The outcomes measured were fetal death and mental retardation or developmental delay in the live-born children.


RESULTS
There was an increased relative risk (RR) for mental retardation or developmental delay in the third trimester of pregnancy (RR=1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.95) in the NCPP, and there was a similar risk in the Medicaid data. The third trimester relative hazard for fetal death associated with maternal UTI was 2.23 (95% CI, 1.40-3.55).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings support an association between maternal UTI and fetal death and mental retardation or developmental delay. These results confirm the importance of diligent diagnosis and treatment of maternal UTI by prenatal care providers.
McDermott
S
S
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia 29203, USA. suzanne.mcdermott@palmetto-health.org
Daguise
V
V
Mann
H
H
Szwejbka
L
L
Callaghan
W
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000209:etiology*; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*