RESUMEN
PURPOSE: To determine if use of cerclage in twin gestations with mid-trimester short cervix is associated with decreased preterm birth rate. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort of twin gestations identified with cervical length of ≤2.5 cm before 24 weeks of gestation through the perinatal ultrasound database of two institutions from 2008 to 2014. Patients with and without cerclage were compared for a primary outcome of preterm birth at <35 weeks. A pre-planned sub-group analysis of patients with cervical length ≤1.5 cm was also performed. RESULTS: Eighty-two patients were included; 43 received cerclage, 39 did not. Mean gestational age at cerclage placement was 20.8 weeks. There was no significant difference in rate of preterm birth <35 weeks between the groups (34.9% versus 48.7%, respectively). In the sub-group analysis of patients with cervical length ≤1.5 cm, there was a significant decreased risk of preterm birth <35 weeks [37% versus 71.4%; adjusted RR 0.49 (0.26-0.93)]. CONCLUSION: Cerclage placement for cervical length ≤2.5 cm in twin gestations did not decrease the rate of preterm birth at <35 weeks; however, cerclage placement for cervical length ≤1.5 cm was associated with a significantly decreased rate of preterm birth <35 weeks when compared to patients managed without cerclage.
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Cerclaje Cervical , Embarazo Gemelar , Nacimiento Prematuro/prevención & control , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Embarazo , Estudios Retrospectivos , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Cervical length by transvaginal ultrasound to predict preterm labor is widely used in clinical practice. Virtually no data exist on cervical length measurement to differentiate true from false labor in term patients who present for labor check. False-positive diagnosis of true labor at term may lead to unnecessary hospital admissions, obstetrical interventions, resource utilization, and cost. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine if cervical length by transvaginal ultrasound can differentiate true from false labor in term patients presenting for labor check. STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective observational study of women presenting to labor and delivery with labor symptoms at 37-42 weeks, singleton cephalic gestation, regular uterine contractions (≥4/20 min), intact membranes, and cervix ≤4 cm dilated and ≤80% effaced. Those patients with placenta previa and indications for immediate delivery were excluded. The shortest best cervical length of 3 collected images was used for analysis. Providers managing labor were blinded to the cervical length. True labor was defined as spontaneous rupture of membranes or spontaneous cervical dilation ≥4 cm and ≥80% effaced within 24 hours of cervical length measurement. In the absence of these outcomes, labor status was determined as false labor. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to assess the predictive ability of cervical length to differentiate true from false labor and were analyzed separately for primiparous and multiparous patients. The diagnostic accuracies of various cervical length cutoffs were determined. The relationship of cervical length and time to delivery was also analyzed including both use and nonuse of oxytocin. RESULTS: In all, 77 patients were included in the study; the prevalence of true labor was 58.4% (45/77). Patients who were in true labor had shorter cervical length as compared to those in false labor: median 1.3 cm (range 0.5-4.1) vs 2.4 cm (range 1.0-5.0), respectively (P < .001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for primiparous patients was 0.88 (P < .001) and for multiparous patients was 0.76 (P < .01), both demonstrating good correlation. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves were not significantly different between primiparous and multiparous (P = .23). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for primiparous and multiparous patients combined was 0.8 (P < .0001), indicating a good overall correlation between cervical length and its ability to differentiate true from false labor. Overall, a cervical length cutoff of ≤1.5 cm to predict true labor had the highest specificity (81%), positive predictive value (83%), and positive likelihood ratio (4.2). There were no differences in cervical length prediction between primiparous and multiparous patients. Cervical length was positively correlated with time to delivery, regardless of the use of oxytocin. CONCLUSION: In differentiating true from false labor in term patients who present for labor check, a cervical length of ≤1.5 cm was the most clinically optimal cutoff with the lowest false positive rate-due to its highest specificity-and highest positive predictive value and positive likelihood ratios. Its use to decide admission in patients at term with labor symptoms may prevent unnecessary admissions, obstetrical interventions, resource utilization, and cost.
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Medición de Longitud Cervical , Cuello del Útero/diagnóstico por imagen , Trabajo de Parto Prematuro/diagnóstico , Adulto , Femenino , Edad Gestacional , Humanos , Inicio del Trabajo de Parto/fisiología , Funciones de Verosimilitud , Valor Predictivo de las Pruebas , Embarazo , Estudios Prospectivos , Curva ROC , Contracción UterinaRESUMEN
Background: Cesarean scar ectopic pregnancies (CSPs) are becoming more prevalent and can have an extremely poor prognosis, with high morbidity and mortality. Management guidelines for patients desiring conservative treatment should be established to improve outcomes. Case: A 33-year-old woman with a conservatively managed CSP now in the second trimester presented from an outside institution. After thorough counseling regarding potential maternal morbidity and extreme prematurity in the newborn based on clinical findings of progressive cervical shortening and vaginal spotting with a significant drop in hemoglobin, she abandoned conservative therapy and underwent a hysterectomy with the previable fetus in situ. Conclusion: As pregnancy progresses, danger to the mother and fetus can become severe and imminent. Progressive cervical shortening may be associated with much more significant bleeding than evidenced by spotting, indicating the importance of using cervical shortening in abandonment of conservative management to reduce impending morbidity and mortality.
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Aneurisma Falso/complicaciones , Consejo , Embarazo Ectópico/diagnóstico por imagen , Embolización de la Arteria Uterina/métodos , Arteria Uterina , Adulto , Aneurisma Falso/terapia , Femenino , Humanos , Embarazo , Embarazo Ectópico/terapia , Hemorragia Uterina/etiologíaRESUMEN
Triplet gestations are associated with high perinatal morbidity. Dichorionic-diamniotic triplet pregnancies with growth discordance, polyhydramnios and structural anomalies carry a significantly increased risk of fetal morbidity and mortality from the baseline risks of high-order multiple pregnancies. Intrauterine fetal death of one fetus of a monochorionic pregnancy may cause neurological injury to the surviving fetus. We present a case where an innovative technique was created combining use of the fetoscopic laser and miniature laparoscopic instruments to selectively reduce and disentangle the umbilical cord of the acranial growth-restricted fetus from the structurally normal fetus's umbilical cord in a dichorionic-diamniotic triplet pregnancy.
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Retardo del Crecimiento Fetal/cirugía , Fetoscopía/métodos , Coagulación con Láser , Reducción de Embarazo Multifetal/métodos , Cordón Umbilical/cirugía , Adulto , Femenino , Edad Gestacional , Humanos , Embarazo , Resultado del Embarazo , Embarazo Triple , Cordón Umbilical/diagnóstico por imagenRESUMEN
Untreated fetal pleural effusion can cause significant perinatal morbidity and mortality. Treatment of pleural effusions with pleuro-amniotic shunting has been shown to improve outcomes. Pleuro-amniotic shunting is associated with complications including ruptured membranes, preterm labor and shunt dislodgement into either the amniotic cavity or the fetal thorax. Shunt dislodgement into the thoracic cavity can cause prenatal complications from the shunt itself or may necessitate neonatal surgery for removal. We present a case where a novel ultrasound-guided technique was used to replace the dislodged pleural shunt in utero, thereby effectively draining the effusion while simultaneously obviating the need for neonatal surgery and decreasing possible perinatal complications.