title: Pregnancy outcome after loop electrosurgical excision procedure for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine pregnancy outcomes among women who underwent loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP).
  
  
  METHODS
  In a case-control study in Italy, 475 pregnant women who underwent LEEP and 441 untreated pregnant women were enrolled between January 2003 and January 2007. Outcome measures were spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, and at-term delivery rates. Continuous and discrete variables were analyzed via t, χ(2), and Fisher exact tests. Groups were compared by analysis of variance and Tukey HSD test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The spontaneous abortion rate was 14.5% and 14.1% in the LEEP and untreated groups, respectively. The preterm delivery rate was 6.4% and 5.0% in the LEEP and untreated groups, respectively. The number of women with a cervical length of less than 30mm was higher in the LEEP group, but this did not influence preterm delivery rate (odds ratio [OR], 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53-1.95). Among women with a cervical length of less than 15mm, those treated with a wider removal of cervical tissue showed increased risk of preterm delivery (OR, 5.31; 95% CI, 1.01-28.07).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The preterm delivery rate was not higher among women who underwent LEEP than among untreated women. Preterm delivery was associated with cone size and cervical length in the second trimester.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecological, Obstetric and Urological Sciences, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. a.frega@tin.it
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frega
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sesti
authors.forename: Luana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Sanctis
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pacchiarotti
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Votano
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biamonti
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sopracordevole
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scirpa
authors.forename: Angelica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catalano
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caserta
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schimberni
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moscarini
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000453:epidemiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D054791:Cervical Length Measurement; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004598:Electrosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*