title: Cervicovaginal fetal fibronectin levels in women with preeclampsia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the mean levels of fetal fibronectin in cervicovaginal secretions of women with preeclampsia and compare them with levels in normotensive controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cervicovaginal swabs were obtained before digital examination from women who presented to labor and delivery for evaluation of preeclampsia and compared with fetal fibronectin levels from a group of control subjects with a similar gestational age. Fetal fibronectin was assayed by a specific enzyme-linked immunoassay. A concentration greater than 50 ng/mL was considered a positive result.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty women with preeclampsia (17 mild and 23 severe) and 31 normotensive women were analyzed. The control group had 9.7% positive fetal fibronectins, whereas the preeclampsia group had 15% positive, P =.72, with 80% power to detect a 22% difference. The majority of the quantitative values in both groups were less than 20 ng/mL. There was not a significant difference between the two groups in quantitative cervicovaginal fetal fibronectin, P =.72, nor was there a difference between the women with severe preeclampsia and the controls, P = 1.0, or between the nulliparous women with preeclampsia versus the nulliparous controls, P =.3.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fetal fibronectin is not elevated in cervicovaginal secretions of women with preeclampsia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA. david.mckenna@wpafb.af.mil
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: McKenna
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Jay D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Iams
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Samuels
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D012634:Bodily Secretions / Q000737:chemistry*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011336:Probability; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014626:Vaginal Smears
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005353:Fibronectins