Table 5.

Perinatal outcomes according to results of PCR and culture of amniotic fluid.

Outcome	Negative culture and negative PCR n=103	P*	Negative culture but positive PCR n=31	P†	Positive culture n=70
Birth weight (g, mean ± SD)	2021 ± 596	<0.05	1682 ± 641	0.2	1488 ± 703
Admission to neonatal intensive care unit	81/101 (81%)	0.1	28/30 (93%)	1	54/58 (93%)
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia	5/101 (5%)	<0.05	5/30 (17%)	0.5	6/58 (10%)
Respiratory distress syndrome	16/101 (16%)	<0.05	11/30 (37%)	0.6	18/58 (31%)
Pneumonia	6/101 (6%)	1	1/30 (3%)	1	2/58 (3%)
Sepsis	37/101 (37%)	0.5	13/30 (43%)	0.2	34/58 (59%)
Necrotizing Enterocolitis	1/101 (1%)	<0.05	3/30 (10%)	0.3	2/58 (3%)
Intraventricular hemorrhage (≥ grade III)	10/101 (10%)	0.7	2/30 (7%)	0.3	9/58 (16%)
Perinatal death	4/101 (4%)	0.08	4/30 (13%)	0.4	15/68 (22%)

^*Comparison of a negative culture and negative PCR with a negative culture but positive PCR.

^†Comparison of a negative culture but positive PCR with a positive culture.

P values for comparison of mean birth weight were calculated using Student’s t-test, and assumed unequal variances.

P values for proportions were calculated using Fisher’s exact test.