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Preterm birth before the 37th gestational week is most frequently caused by infection. The agents are aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Infection usually ascends from the vagina. Microorganisms entering the choriodecidual space induce pro-inflammatory cytokines, which trigger prostaglandin synthesis and contraction activity of the uterus. Cytokines can also release proteases, which cause premature outflow of the amnionic fluid. Screening of vaginal infections is indicated in all cases of imminent preterm parturition and in the group of risk pregnancies. Screening on Streptococcus B is indicated to all pregnant women in the gravidity weeks 35 to 37. Beside streptococcus infections with the risk of disease of the neonate being 2 to 3 per 1000 of vital newborns, bacterial vaginosis caused by Gardnerela vaginalis is frequently diagnosed. Effective treatment of symptomatic cases of the advanced pregnancy is five days long administration of Metronidazol or Clindamycin--vaginal crème. Another frequent cause of the preterm birth is chlamydial infection. The best contemporary treatment is Azitromycine for five days. Therapy of women without symptoms of the imminent preterm parturition does not decrease its occurrence. It is therefore not recommended as well as is not recommended the therapy of pregnant women with asymptomatic bacterinuria. Beside the classical cultivations, detection of antibodies, DNA analysis and serum infection markers (leucocytes, C-reactive protein), detection of pro- inflammatory cytokines in the serum and in the vaginal secret (IL-6, IL-8, TNFalpha etc.) are used to diagnose vaginal infections.

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OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness and safety of very early high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) with conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) in treatment of the respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and to evaluate their impact on the incidence of chronic pulmonary disease and early and late morbidity of very low-birthweight neonates. DESIGN: A prospective randomized clinical trial. SETTING: Tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in the Perinatology Center in Prague. PATIENTS: 43 premature newborns, delivered in the Department of Obstetrics in the Perinatology Center, were randomly divided into two groups (HFOV and CMV) immediately after delivery; 2 patients in each group died, 2 fulfilled crossover criteria from CMV to HFOV, and 2 were excluded because of congenital malformations. Nineteen patients treated with HFOV were therefore compared with 18 infants in the CMV group. METHODS: The two contrasting modes of ventilation were introduced immediately after intubation. Maintenance of optimal lung volume in HFOV to optimize oxygenation and the therapeutic administration of surfactant after fulfilling defined criteria are important points of the strategy and design of the study. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Except for a higher proportion of males in the HFOV group (p<0.02), the basic clinical characteristics (gestational age, birthweight, Apgar score at 5 min, umbilical arterial pH), the two groups were similar. In the acute stage of RDS, infants treated with HFOV had higher proximal airway distending pressure with HFOV for 6 h after delivery (p<0.05). For a period of 12 h after delivery lower values for the alveolar-arterial oxygen difference (p<0.03) were noted. The number of patients who did not require surfactant treatment was higher in the HFOV group (11 vs. 1, p<0.001). In the HFOV group the authors found a lower roentgenographic score at 30 days of age (p<0.03) and a lower clinical score in the 36th postconceptional week (p<0.05), using these two scoring systems for assessing chronic lung disease according to Toce scale. The incidence of pneumothorax, pulmonary interstitial emphysema, intraventricular hemorrhage and retinopathy of prematurity in both groups was the same. CONCLUSIONS: HFOV, when applied early and when the clinical strategy of maintenance of optimal lung volume is used, improves oxygenation in the acute stage of RDS, reduces the need of surfactant administration, and can decrease the injury to lung tissue even in extremely immature newborns to whom surfactant is administered therapeutically.

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UNLABELLED: Extremely immature neonates are threatened during the first days after delivery by many conditions which are due to incomplete development.--A key role is played during the first days of extrauterine life by the incidence and degree of the respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Its incidence in neonates born before the completed 32nd week of gestation is very common. Causal treatment of RDS is not known. To overcome it the neonatologist must use in the majority of infants invasive techniques of controlled ventilation which are associated with the risk of further complications such as barotrauma, retinopathy and later the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Attempts to influence intrauterine maturation of the lungs were started in the fifties. As a routine procedure nowadays corticoids are administered antenatally. Their limited effect divert the attention of perinatologists to other substances which could enhance maturation of pulmonary tissue. In human medicine ambroxol was introduced, in animals opiates are tested as well as beta-mimetics, aminophylline. The greatest hopes were aroused by trials with the use of T-hormones. T-hormones have a maturating regulating function in the foetal organism. They have an affinity for pneumocytes and in animal experiments they have a positive effect on surfactant formation. Moreover they act synergically when combined with corticoids. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY: a) to evaluate the safety of the method from the aspect of undesirable side-effects of hormone administration to the mother b) evaluation of hormone levels: TSH, total T4, total T3, TRH and prolactin in maternal serum.

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