BMJ  2004;329:374 (14 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7462.374

Commentary

Does screening reduce preterm births?

Anna Alanen, senior consultant1

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 4-8, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland anna.alanen@utu.fi

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Preterm birth is one of the most important problems in modern obstetrics. As the connection between ascending infection and preterm birth is undisputed, much research has focused on finding infectious risk factors suitable for screening. In the study by Kiss et al, asymptomatic pregnant women were screened and randomised to treatment during the second trimester for bacterial vaginosis, Candida, and trichomoniasis.1 Bacterial vaginosis has proved to be associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. Unfortunately, in several trials, intervention with antenatal antibiotic treatment—vaginal or systemic—has mostly failed to reduce the rate of preterm births, in spite of successful eradication of bacterial vaginosis.2

Although the incidence of preterm birth was lower in the intervention group in the study by Kiss et al, the treatment of bacterial vaginosis did not significantly reduce the rate of preterm birth. The difference occurred mostly in women with a normal vaginal flora, who received . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Prospective randomised controlled trial of an infection screening programme to reduce the rate of preterm delivery
Herbert Kiss, Ljubomir Petricevic, and Peter Husslein
BMJ 2004 329: 371. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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