Goldenberg R L, Mercer B M, Miodovnik M, Thurnau G R, Meis P J, Moawad A, Paul R H, Bottoms S F, Das A, Roberts J M, McNellis D, Tamura T
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1998 Dec;179(6 Pt 1):1599-604. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9378(98)70032-8.
The objective of this study was to determine whether plasma ferritin levels predict maternal or neonatal outcomes in women with preterm rupture of membranes at <32 weeks' gestation.
Plasma from 223 women with premature rupture of membranes at <32 weeks' gestation who had participated in a randomized antibiotic trial were analyzed for ferritin at random assignment and at delivery, and the results were compared with the development of clinical chorioamnionitis, latency until delivery, neonatal sepsis, and a composite adverse neonatal outcome variable.
The mean plasma ferritin level rose from 19.2 +/- 29.1 microgram/L on admission to 38.3 +/- 54.3 microgram/L at delivery, with a mean latency of 9.3 +/- 14.6 days. Plasma ferritin levels were significantly higher at both times in mothers whose infants acquired sepsis than in those whose infants did not, especially at delivery (68.5 +/- 96.3 microgram/L vs 32.5 +/- 40.5 microgram/L, P =.01), and neonatal sepsis was 2 to 3 times more common among women with plasma ferritin levels above the median than among those with levels below the median.
Among women with premature rupture of membranes at <32 weeks' gestation, plasma ferritin levels were significantly associated with neonatal sepsis. These data suggest that higher plasma ferritin levels may serve as a marker of infection among women with premature rupture of membranes; however, the clinical utility of plasma ferritin levels in predicting neonatal outcome appears limited.
