A lower rate of preterm birth after clotrimazole therapy during pregnancy

Topical or vaginal clotrimazole treatment during pregnancy was evaluated in the large population-based control data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities, 1980-92. The database comprised 3 2804 control non-malformed newborn infants, 7.7% of whom were born to mothe rs who had received clotrimazole treatment during pregnancy. An increase in mean gestational age among exposed vs. unexposed was found. It is postulat ed that the use of clotrimazole during pregnancy reduced significantly the proportion of preterm births because of the effective treatment of genital infections caused by candidiasis in pregnant women.