Objective:

To determine the presence of histologic chorioamnionitis in pregnant women in spontaneous pre-term labour, and to evaluate potential risk factors and association with clinical and paraclinical signs and symptoms.

Materials and methods:

Descriptive prevalence study with secondary exploratory analysis in pregnant women under 37 weeks of gestation with spontaneous delivery in whom the placenta was used for histopathology testing, conducted over a 2-year period in a high complexity hospital in Popayán, Colombia. Secondary pre-term deliveries were excluded. Consecutive sampling, with a sample size of 166 pregnant women. Social, demographic, clinical, laboratory and imaging variables were measured, as well as the placental histopathology test result. The analysis estimated the prevalence of histological chorioamnionitis period. The prevalence ratio as a measure of association and the diagnostic OR (DOR) with its respective 95% confidence interval were obtained.

Results:

Overall, 160 pregnant women and their placentas were analyzed over a 2-year period. There were positive reports for 110 placentas with histological chorioamnionitis, for a prevalence of 68.75 % (95 % CI: 61.49-76.00), the prevalence being higher in gestations under 34 weeks (PR= 1.48; 95 % CI: 1.20-1.83). Regarding association of signs and symptoms, a significant association was found with fever (DOR= 4.7; 95% CI: 1.05-21.09), maternal tachycardia (DOR = 4.22; 95% CI: 1.81-9.81), foetal tachycardia (DOR = 3.74; 95% CI: 1.23-11.35), absent breathing movements (DOR = 5.16; 95 % CI: 1.43-18.60), amniotic fluid lower than 2 (DOR= 5.67; 95 % CI: 1.24-25.98), and presence of neutrophilia (DOR = 2.97; 95 % CI: 1.44-6.12).

Conclusions:

The prevalence of histological chorioamnionitis was 67 % in pre-term deliveries and varied in accordance with gestational age.

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