Perinatal outcome after preterm premature rupture of membranes with in situ cervical cerclage

Objective: The presence of a cervical cerclage at the time of preterm premature rupture of membranes (pPROM) could promote clinically evident infection and adverse pregnancy outcome. This cohort study examines whether the presence of cerclage at the time of pPROM is associated with increased maternal or neonatal inflammatory morbidity. Study Design: All singleton pregnancies with cerclage and pPROM between 24.0 and 33.9 weeksʹ gestation at our institution (January 1985-December 1997) were reviewed. Controls (pPROM without cerclage) were matched 2.5:1 by year of presentation. Outcome measures suggest clinical evidence of an infectious response and include maternal admission white blood cell count, time to onset of preterm labor, clinical chorioamnionitis, postpartum fever, neonatal white-matter disease (intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia) at less than 33 weeks, neonatal sepsis, and neonatal death. Results: One hundred fourteen cases of pPROM and cerclage were matched with 288 controls. The study had power (α = .05, POWER = 0.8) to detect a two-fold difference in incidence of adverse neonatal outcome. Among the mothers, the incidence of clinical chorioamnionitis (14.0% vs 18.8%, P = .26), uterine activity at admission (33.3% vs 32.2%, P = .44), maternal postpartum fever (7.9% vs 7.6%, P = .93) in cerclage versus no cerclage were equivalent. Among the neonates, the incidence of neonatal white-matter disease (15.3% vs 13.7%, P = .75), neonatal sepsis (9.1% vs 6.0%, P = .21), and neonatal death were similar. Conclusion: Rates of maternal and neonatal morbidity were similar between both groups. The close overall similarity between the groups strongly suggest clinically insignificant differences between the two groups. These data indicate that a cervical cerclage at the time of pPROM less than 34 weeks does not adversely affect pregnancy outcome. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;187:1147-52.)