Table 2.

Clinical and amniotic fluid laboratory diagnosis of chorioamnionitis

Test	Result suggesting chorioamnionitis	Comments
Clinical parameters		Generally non-specific [4]
Fever	Temperature >100.4 twice or >101 once	95–100 sensitive [4]
Maternal tachycardia	> 100/min	50–80% sensitive
Fetal tachycardia	>160/min	40–70% sensitive
Fundal tenderness	tenderness on palpation	4–25% sensitive
Vaginal discharge	Foul-smelling discharge	5–22% sensitive
Amniotic fluid parameters
Culture	Microbial growth	Diagnostic gold-standard
Gram stain	Bacteria or white blood cells (>6/HPF)	24% sensitive, 99% specific [31]
Glucose level	<15mg/dl	Affected by maternal hyperglycemia 57% sensitive, 74% specific [31]
Interleukin 6	>7.9 ng/ml	81% sensitive, 75% specific [31]
Matrix Metalloproteinase	Positive result	90% sensitive and 80% specific [30]
White blood cell count	>30/cubic mm	57% sensitive, 78% specific [31]
Leukocyte esterase	Positive (dipsticks)	85–91% sensitive, 95–100% specific [26,32]