title: [Can we predict the premature labor in patients with placenta previa?; a retrospective study on maternal symptoms during pregnancy].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to predict the gestational weeks by characterizing maternal genital bleeding and uterine contraction during pregnancy in patients with placenta previa.
  
  
  METHODS
  Included in this study were 87 patients with placenta previa, diagnosed at the time of delivery at our institution. Genital bleeding and uterine contraction characteristics and clinical data from mothers who delivered at < 37 weeks were compared to that of mothers who delivered at > or = 37 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 37 deliveries (42.5%) at < 37 gestational weeks and 50 deliveries (57.4%) at > or = 37 gestational weeks. In 69 of 87 cases (79.3%), genital bleeding was recognized during pregnancy, and in 63 cases (72.4%) genital bleeding was the first symptom to occur during pregnancy. Uterine contraction during pregnancy was recognized in 48 cases (55.2%), including 36 (41.4%) that occurred as the first symptom of pregnancy. Logistic regression analysis revealed that when genital bleeding occurred at < 29 and < 31 weeks, patients were at high risk for delivery at < 34 and < 37 weeks, respectively, and when first uterine contraction occurred at < 29 weeks, they were at high risk for delivery at < 34 weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with placenta previa, the number of gestational weeks to the occurrence of the first genital bleeding can be used as a predictor of the number of weeks to term.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Onoyama
authors.forename: Kotaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Murasaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aman
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Hitoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000209:etiology*; D010923:Placenta Previa / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies