Late Spontaneous Abortion Associated with Mycoplasma Hominis Infection of the Fetus

Abstract

A 35-year-old gravida 4 was admitted in pregnancy week 25 because of premature rupture of the fetal membranes. Two days later an intra-uterine infection developed. Treatment with clindamycin and ampicillin was started. However, she aborted within a few hours. The fetus was of normal size and without malformations. Mycoplasma hominis could be isolated from the placenta, cerebrospinal fluid and lungs of the fetus during sterile autopsy, and also from the genital tract of the patient, who had a high constant titre of indirect hemagglutination antibodies to M. hominis in sera collected during pregnancy and after the abortion. This case suggests that M. hominis can ascend to the uterine cavity after rupture of the membranes and infect the fetus.