A. Antsaklis et al., ERYTHROMYCIN TREATMENT FOR SUBCLINICAL UREAPLASMA-UREALYTICUM INFECTION IN PRETERM LABOR, Fetal diagnosis and therapy, 12(2), 1997, pp. 89-92
This study was undertaken to test the effects of erythromycin as an ad
junct to tocolysis for preterm labor in women with vaginal cultures po
sitive for Urea-plasma urealyticum. The study group consisted of 18 wo
men in active preterm labor with pregnancies between 26 and 34 weeks o
f gestation and intact membranes who received 500 mg erythromycin oral
ly every 8 h for 10 days. Seventeen women with similar characteristics
served as controls and received no antibiotics. In all women contract
ions were suppressed with ritodrine. Erythromycin treatment resulted i
n a statistically significant greater mean delay of delivery (36.4 day
s) than among the control group (23.2 days). Higher proportion of term
pregnancies (7 versus 3 pregnancies), higher mean birth weight (2,745
versus 2,474 g), lower neonatal morbidity (22.2 versus 41.2%) and sho
rter mean neonatal hospitalization time (9.6 versus 12.1 days) were ob
served, although these differences were not statistically significant.
Adjunctive erythromycin treatment given to women treated for preterm
labor with intact membranes and positive vaginal cultures for U. ureal
yticum appears to prolong gestation and to improve perinatal outcome.