title: The impact of clinical maternal chorioamnionitis on neurological and psychological sequelae in very-low-birth weight infants: a case-control study.
abstract: To assess the relationship between clinically maternal chorioamnionitis and outcome in preterm very-low-birth weight (VLBW) infants.
  
  
  
  An observational case-control study was conducted in the neonatology departments of 12 acute care teaching hospitals in Spain. Between January 2004 and December 2006, all consecutive VLBW (≤1500 g) infants who were born to a mother with clinical chorioamnionitis were enrolled. The controls included infants who were born to mothers without chorioamnionitis, matched by gestational age, and immediately born after each index case. At a corrected age of 24 months, a neurological examination and a psychological assessment of the surviving children were performed.
  
  
  
  Sixty-six of the newborn infants died; therefore, 262 infants from the original sample were available for the study. Follow-up data were obtained at a corrected age of 24 months from a total of 209 children (106 cases and 103 controls, 80% of the original sample size). Seventy children (33.5%) were diagnosed with some type of sequelae. The following conditions were all more prevalent in infants born to mothers with chorioamnionitis in comparison to controls: low development quotient (98.3±12.15 vs. 95.9±15.64; P=0.497), cerebral palsy (4.9% vs. 10.4%; P=0.138), seizures (1.0% vs. 3.8%; P=0.369), and other neurological or sensorial sequelae (32.0% vs. 34.9%; P=0.611).
  
  
  
  After controlling for gestational age, the study population demonstrated that the neurological outcomes in infants at a corrected age of 24 months was not worsened by chorioamnionitis.
authors.affiliation: Neonatology Service, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. fbotet@clinic.ub.es
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Botet
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Figueras
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Carbonell-Estrany
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Narbona
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000209:etiology; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002821:Chorioamnionitis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology