title: Cervical length and cervicovaginal HCG for prediction of pre-term birth in women with signs and symptoms of pre-term labour.
abstract: The study group consisted of 100 women with a singleton pregnancy with pre-term labour between 26-36 weeks' gestation. Cervicovaginal secretions were collected for HCG assay and cervical length was measured by transvaginal sonography (TVS). These parameters were analysed to predict pre-term birth. The pre-term delivery rate was 55%; 24% delivered within 48 h and 11% within 7 days of admission. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of cervical length <or=2.5 cm to predict delivery within 48 h and 7 days of admission were 62.5%, 89.5%, 65.2%, 88.3% and 60.0%, 96.9%, 91.3%, 81.8% respectively; and those of qualitative HCG were 87.5%, 80.3%, 58.3%, 95.3% and 77.1%, 86.2%, 75%, 87.5% respectively. HCG value of >or=45 mIU/ml was the optimal cut-off, with a sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for predicting delivery within 48 h and 7 days to be 95.8%, 73.7%, 53.5% and 98.2% and 85.7%, 80%, 69.8% and 91.2%, respectively. Combining either qualitative or quantitative HCG assay with cervical length significantly increased the sensitivity and NPV of cervical length alone for prediction of pre-term delivery both within 48 h and 7 days. It was concluded that increased cervicovaginal HCG and reduced cervical length predicted an increased risk of pre-term delivery in women with pre-term labour. Qualitative cervicovaginal HCG assay may be used as a bedside test to predict pre-term delivery within 48 h or within 7 days.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bagga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takhtani
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adhikari
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhardwaj
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054791:Cervical Length Measurement; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014621:Vagina / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin