A standard biomarker test offered earlier in pregnancy could potentially help doctors to better identify women at risk of giving birth prematurely, thus enabling health services to focus treatments on women at highest risk.
A number of factors are used to determine if a woman is at risk of giving birth prematurely, including a history of preterm births or late miscarriages. Two further factors which clinicians normally consider are the length of cervix and levels of a biomarker found in vaginal fluid known as fetal fibronectin.
Scientists at King's College London (London, UK) compared measurements of a new fetal fibronectin test in the cervicovaginal fluid of women at 18 to 21 weeks of gestation with measurements made at 22 to 27 weeks of gestation, to see which time period offered the best prediction of spontaneous preterm birth. They also explored whether using a low (10 ng/mL) and high (200 ng/mL) threshold would more accurately classify a women's risk of giving birth prematurely.
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| Fetal fibronectin is a “glue-like” protein that holds the developing baby in the womb |
Source: Hologic Inc.
