Periodontal disease may cause several complications of pregnancy, including fetal death. The purpose of this study was to investigate in sheep the effects of the intra-amniotic injection of lipopolysaccharide from 3 periodontopathic organisms and to compare these effects with those resulting from similar injection of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. The outcomes that were studied included the rates of fetal death and the features of inflammation and lung maturation in survivors.
The School of Women's and Infants' Health, The University of Western Australia at King Edward Memorial Hospital, Perth, Western Australia. jnewnham@obsgyn.uwa.edu.au
