title: Peripartum cocaine use and adverse pregnancy outcome.
abstract: The objective of the study was to analyze possible adverse effects of peripartum cocaine use on maternal and fetal outcomes. Informed consent was given by 720 (97%) of 740 women who delivered consecutively at a large urban public hospital to test an umbilical cord blood sample for the presence of non-medically administered drugs of abuse and alcohol and to be interviewed for the study. Samples were tested for the presence of a cocaine metabolite (benzoylecgonine-BZE) by radioimmunoassay. The presence of other substances of abuse (alcohol, methamphetamine, opiates) resulted in exclusion from the sample of 143 subjects. Thus, in this cohort analysis, drug-free controls (N = 469) were compared to those positive for cocaine only (N = 108). Peripartum exposure to cocaine only, and no other substances of abuse, was associated with an increased frequency of abruptio placentae (1.9% vs 0% for control, P < 0.004), thick meconium stained amniotic fluid (3.9% vs 0.7% for controls, P < 0.006), premature rupture of membranes (P < 0.02), genitourinary anomalies (OR = 3.6, P < 0.05), abdominal wall defects (OR = 4.4, P < 0.01) and increased frequency of low birth weight (OR = 2.0, P < 0.02). These are important findings because previous studies have been complicated by the confounding effects of other substances of abuse. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 11:598-602, 1999. Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.
authors.forename: Bertis B.
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: Laura M.
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Snell
authors.forename: Kenneth J.
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Trimmer
authors.forename: Susan M.
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ramin
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghali
authors.forename: Craig A.
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Blakely
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garret