THE ROLE OF ANTIBIOTIC-THERAPY IN THE PREVENTION OF PREMATURITY

Prematurity is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality in the industrial world, occurring in 4% to 9% of all deliveries, a ra te that has remained unchanged during the past decades. Despite the re lative minority of obstetric patients affected by this problem, premat urity is responsible for approximately 70% to 80% of perinatal morbidi ty and mortality corrected for congenital anomalies. To date, treatmen t modalities (tocolysis) that have been applied to patients who have p reterm labor (PTL) and preterm premature rupture of membranes have bee n found to be of limited value in reducing both the rate of prematurit y and of perinatal mortality and morbidity. A possible explanation for this failure in prevention of prematurity can be attributed to the po or understanding of the mechanisms of parturition in general and the p athoyhysiology of PTL in particular.