Establishment of a Perinatal Database and a Bank of Biological Materials

The aim of this project is to establish a clinical database and a bank of biological materials which will be used to improve the pathophysiologic understanding of the mechanisms underlying various pregnancy diseases. The US-Mexico Reproductive Health Research Development Workshop, sponsored by the NIH, recommended that the setting up of "tissue, blood, and placental banks from human and relevant animal models should be developed to aid in understanding how prenatal conditions relate to pathological consequences in adult life".

A large observational study in the United States of America, the National Collaborative Perinatal Project (NCPP), was conducted over 30 years ago (1959-1966) and has yielded a large amount of useful information. However standards of obstetrical and neonatal care have changed significantly over the last 30 years. Thus the setting up of a contemporary clinical perinatal database and bank of biological materials is required. In order to obtain sufficient data for statistical analysis a large sample size is necessary.

We propose to carry out this project at Sotero del Rio Hospital, Santiago Chile as this hospital has a delivery rate of approximately 14,000 women per year. Previous research collaborative efforts between the Sotero del Rio Hospital and the PRB have been carried out in compliance with NIH research regulations. Sotero del Rio Hospital has had previous successful negotiations of Single Project Assurances (SPA) with the NIH.

Information will be collected from clinical history taking, physical examination, sonographic examination and standard laboratory procedures. The bank of biological fluids and tissues will include maternal blood, umbilical cord plasma, amniotic fluid, maternal urine and placental tissue. No procedures will be carried out on patients that are not part of standard of care at Sotero del Rio Hospital.