title: Nonintrusive diagnosis of premature ruptured amniotic membranes using a novel polymer.
abstract: This article describes the evaluation of the diagnostic efficacy of AL-SENSE panty-liner in detecting premature rupture of membranes (PROM). One hundred and three women attending the labor and delivery ward were enrolled into three groups: women presenting with a vaginal leak of fluid who had not yet been examined; women with overt PROM, and women with no fluid leak. The result of the AL-SENSE strip test was compared with the clinical diagnosis, which was based on direct visualization of the posterior vaginal fornix and cervix, crystallization, and nitrazine tests. AL-SENSE panty-liner test had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 75% in detecting PROM, with an overall agreement of 82.35% between the AL-SENSE test result and the clinical diagnosis. AL-SENSE may be used as a reliable test to rule out PROM and as an effective device to diagnose PROM and differentiate it from urine leak and vulvovaginal candidiasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya, Israel.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bornstein
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Geva
authors.forename: Ido
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Solt
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fait
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schoenfeld
authors.forename: Hadar Kessary
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Shoham
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sobel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D001391:Azo Compounds; D005260:Female; D005322:Premature Rupture of Fetal Membranes / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D011934:Reagent Strips; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D011934:Reagent Strips; C013617:nitrazine yellow