title: Arabin cervical pessary to prevent preterm birth in twin pregnancies with short cervix.
abstract: A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Arabin cervical pessary in twin pregnancies with cervical length (CL)  <25 mm between 21 and 31 weeks. Forty patients receiving pessary were matched with 40 controls without pessary. They were matched for gestational age (GA) at admission and CL. GA at delivery, delivery before 36, 34 and 32 weeks, latency between detection of short cervix and delivery, and duration of hospital admission were compared between groups. Women with the pessary delivered at higher GA compared to controls (35 vs. 33 weeks, p = 0.02). Cervical pessary significantly reduced the incidence of delivery  <36 and  < 34 weeks (p < 0.05), but not before 32 weeks. Interval between detection of short cervix and delivery was longer in the pessary group and duration of hospital admission was shorter (p = 0.03) compared to women without pessary.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences , University of Florence. AOU Careggi , Florence , Italy , and.
authors.forename: Mariarosaria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Tommaso
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences , University of Florence. AOU Careggi , Florence , Italy , and.
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Seravalli
authors.affiliation: b Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , 2nd U. University of Turin, AO Town of Health and Science , Turin , Italy.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arduino
authors.affiliation: b Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , 2nd U. University of Turin, AO Town of Health and Science , Turin , Italy.
authors.forename: Carlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bossotti
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences , University of Florence. AOU Careggi , Florence , Italy , and.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sisti
authors.affiliation: b Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , 2nd U. University of Turin, AO Town of Health and Science , Turin , Italy.
authors.forename: Tullia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Todros
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D054791:Cervical Length Measurement; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000002:abnormalities*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010570:Pessaries; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D059285:Pregnancy, Twin; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Cervical pessary; multiple pregnancies; premature birth