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Cobo TAuthorHerranz AAuthorAldecoa VAuthorPalacio MAuthor

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March 9, 2022
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Individualized treatment of preterm PROM to prolong the latency period, reduce the rate of preterm birth, and improve neonatal outcomes

Publicated to: American Journal Of Obstetrics And Gynecology. 227 (2): 296.e1- - 2022-08-01 227(2), DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2022.02.037

Authors:

Ronzoni, Stefania; Cobo, Teresa; D'Souza, Rohan; Asztalos, Elizabeth; O'Rinn, Susan E; Cao, Xingshan; Herranz, Ana; Melamed, Nir; Ferrero, Silvia; Barrett, Jon; Aldecoa, Victoria; Palacio, Montse
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Affiliations

Hosp St Joan Deu Barcelona BCNatal, Barcelona Ctr Maternal Fetal & Neonatal Med, Barcelona, Spain - Author
McMaster Univ, Dept Hlth Res Methods Evidence & Impact, Hamilton, ON, Canada - Author
McMaster Univ, Dept Obstet & Gynaecol, Hamilton, ON, Canada - Author
Sunnybrook Hlth Sci Ctr, Dept Newborn & Dev Pediat, Toronto, ON, Canada - Author
Sunnybrook Res Inst, Res Design & Biostat, Toronto, ON, Canada - Author
Univ Barcelona, Inst Invest Biomed August Pi i Sunyer, Fetal ID Fetal Med Res Ctr,Hosp Clin Barcelona BC, Barcelona Ctr Maternal Fetal & Neonatal Med, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Toronto, Mt Sinai Hosp, Dept Obstet & Gynaecol, Div Maternal Fetal Med, Toronto, ON, Canada - Author
Univ Toronto, Sunnybrook Hlth Sci Ctr, Dept Obstet & Gynaecol, Div Maternal Fetal Med, Toronto, ON, Canada - Author
Univ Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada - Author
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. - Author
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Preterm premature rupture of membranes complicates approximately 3% of pregnancies. Currently, in the absence of chorioamnionitis or placental abruption, expectant management, including antenatal steroids for lung maturation and prophylactic antibiotic treatment, is recommended. The benefits of individualized management have not been adequately explored. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the impact of 2 different management strategies of preterm premature rupture of membranes in 2 tertiary obstetrical centers on latency of >7 days, latency to birth, chorioamnionitis, funisitis, and short-term adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: This was a multicenter retrospective study of women with singleton pregnancies with preterm premature rupture of membranes from 23 0/7 to 33 6/7 weeks of gestation between 2014 and 2018 and undelivered within 24 hours after hospital admission managed at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Canada (standard management group), and BCNatal (Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and Hospital Sant Joan de Deu Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain (individualized management group), following local protocols. The standard management group received similar management for all patients, which included a standard antibiotic regimen and routine maternal and fetal surveillance, whereas the individualized management group received personalized management on the basis of amniocentesis at hospital admission (if possible), to rule out microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity and targeted treatment. The exclusion criteria were cervical dilatation >2 cm, active labor, contraindications to expectant management (acute chorioamnionitis, placental abruption, or abnormal fetal tracing), and major fetal anomalies. The primary outcome was latency of >7 days, and the secondary outcomes included latency to birth, chorioamnionitis, and short-term adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Statistical comparisons between groups were conducted with propensity score weighting. RESULTS: A total of 513 pregnancies with preterm premature rupture of membranes were included in this study: 324 patients received standard management, and 189 patients received individualized management, wherein amniocentesis was performed in 112 cases (59.3%). After propensity score weighting, patients receiving individualized management had a higher latency of >7 days (76.0% vs 41.6%; P<.001) and latency to birth (18.1 +/- 14.7 vs 9.7 +/- 9.7 days; P<.001). Although a higher rate of clinical chorioamnionitis was suspected in the individualized management group than the standard group (34.5% vs 22.0%; P<.01), there was no difference between the groups in terms of histologic chorioamnionitis (67.2% vs 73.4%; P=.16), funisitis (57.6% vs 58.1%; P=.92), or composite infectious maternal outcomes (9.1% vs 7.9%; P=.64). Prolonged latency in the individualized management group was associated with a significant reduction of preterm birth at <32 weeks of gestation (72.1% vs 90.5%; P<.001), neonatal intensive care unit admission (75.6% vs 83.0%; P=.046), and neonatal respiratory support at 28 days of life (16.1% vs 26.1%; P<.01) compared with that in the standard management group. Moreover, prolonged latency was not associated with neonatal severe morbidity at discharge (survival without severe morbidity, 80.4% vs 73.5%; P=.09). CONCLUSION: Individualized management of preterm premature rupture of membranes may prolong pregnancy and reduce preterm birth at <32 weeks of gestation, the need for neonatal support, and neonatal intensive care unit admissions, without an increase in histologic chorioamnionitis, funisitis, neonatal infection-related morbidity, and short-term adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
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Keywords

amniocentesisamniotic-fluidantibiotic treatmentantibiotic-therapyclinical chorioamnionitisdurationfunisitishistologic chorioamnionitisimpactinfectionintra-amniotic infectionintraamniotic inflammationmanagementmaternal sepsismicrobial invasion of the amniotic cavityneonatal short-term outcomespersonalized treatmentprelabor ruptureAbruptio placentaeAcute histologic chorioamnionitisAdultAdverse outcomeAmniocentesisAnti-bacterial agentsAntibiotic treatmentAntiinfective agentAssisted ventilationChorioamnionitisClinical chorioamnionitisClinical trialComparative studyConference paperControlled studyDisease severityFemaleFetal membranes, premature ruptureFetus outcomeFunisitisGestational ageHistologic chorioamnionitisHospital admissionHospital dischargeHumanHumansInfant, newbornIntra-amniotic infectionLatent periodMajor clinical studyMaternal sepsisMicrobial invasion of the amniotic cavityMulticenter studyNeonatal intensive care unitNeonatal short-term outcomesNewbornNewborn morbidityPatient carePersonalized medicinePersonalized treatmentPlacentaPractice guidelinePregnancyPregnancy outcomePremature birthPremature fetus membrane rupturePremature laborPremature rupture of fetal membranesPrematurityPropensity scoreRetrospective studiesRetrospective studySolutio placentaeTertiary health careUterine cervix dilatation

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 2/85, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Obstetrics & Gynecology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 5.05. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-19, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 29
  • Scopus: 1
  • Europe PMC: 19
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-19:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 66.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 67 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 61.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 1 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 87 (Altmetric).
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Canada.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Palacio Riera, Montserrat).

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