[C-reactive protein in the maternal serum and risk of fetal infection in premature rupture of the fetal membranes and threatened premature labor].

In order to find out whether, in the framework of our obstetrical management, determinations of the C-creative protein (CRP) in maternal serum enables recognition of incipient intra-uterine infections, regular controls of the CRP level were performed in 129 patients with premature rupture of membranes and impending premature labour. The maternal CRP levels and the simultaneously determined total leukocyte counts and band counts were compared with the frequency of neonatal infectious diseases up to the 3rd day of life. None of the infants were affected whose mothers never had values above 10.0 mg/l. If he maternal CRP values exceeded the 10.0 mg/l limit, then 6.3%-57.1% of the newborns were affected depending on their birth weight. Therefore, the prepartal CRP diagnosis can, especially in infants with low birth weight, help to determine the risk of infection.