ABSTRACT
In the period from 1972 to 1979, 3497 pregnant women were tested at the two Zagreb Health Centers. Urine cultures were taken from all women by Arneil's "dip slide" method, modified by Babic. Significant asymptomatic bacteriuria (SAB) was found at the onset of pregnancy in 10.7% cases. Pregnant women with SAB at the end of pregnancy, in comparison to those whose urine was sterile, had significantly more children weighing under 1000 g at birth (1.3% v. 0.2%; x2 = 8.44, p less than 0.01) and under 2500 g (6.5% v. 3.8%; x2 = 3.95, p less than 0.05), more deliveries by vacuum extraction (3.0% v. 1.3%; x2 = 4.62, p less than 0.05), and a significantly higher perinatal mortality (64.9 v. 15.6; x2 = 24.73, p less than 0.001). The treatment of SAB at the very beginning of pregnancy significantly decreased, by a fourth (25.5%), its frequency at the end of pregnancy. This figure is almost twice as high in those not treated (46.1%, x2 = 16.64, p less than 0.001). SAB treatment contributed to a significantly lower frequency of hypertension at the end of pregnancy (8.9%) in comparison to non-treated cases (31.4%, x2 = 29.45, p less than 0.001).
