Prospective Evaluation of Pathways for Preterm Birth: The PEPP Study
John O'Brien, MD
Summary
This is a single center, prospective cohort study of pregnant patients at high risk for spontaneous preterm birth: patient's with history of spontaneous preterm birth, patient's with a short cervix and patient's symptomatic for preterm birth will be included. A control cohort of nulliparous patients without a short cervix will be recruited to provide baseline data. Plan to enroll 240 patients identified through our ultrasound unit with goal of 60 patients in each group.
Description
Patients will be approached for potential enrollment at the time of their anatomy ultrasound 18+0 and 23+6 weeks' gestation pending their obstetric history or if a transabdominal ultrasound evaluation or past transvaginal examination suggests the cervical length is less than 30 mm. Exclusion criteria will be reviewed and if none are present and the patient is considered a candidate for enrollment, informed consent will be performed. A 10-ml serum sample obtained. Before the transvaginal ultrasound, the patient will be asked to undergo a cervical washing of 3 cc of normal saline to obtain infla…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–45 years
- Sex
- Female
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * Maternal age from 18 to 45 years of age. * Singleton gestation. Exclusion Criteria: * Treatment with vaginal progesterone or intramuscular progestogen within the previous 4 weeks. * History of congestive heart failure, chronic renal failure, or uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, or diabetes mellitus with evidence of end organ dysfunction secondary to vascular disease. * Current pregnancy with a major fetal anomaly or known chromosomal abnormality. * The subject has a marked uterine anatomic malformation that may alter pregnancy duration such as a septated uterus, unicornu…
Location
- University of KentuckyLexington, Kentucky