Defined as delivery before completing 37 weeks of gestation, PB is caused by multiple etiologies as individual and environmental factors, making the prediction and prevention of PB a challenging process in antenatal care. PB is an essential subject for being one of the leading causes of neonatal mortality and its long-term neurologic and developmental problems.
There is no single or combined screening method for preterm birth with high sensitivity, which will genuinely identify the women at risk for preterm birth and high specificity to prevent unnecessary interventions and high treatment costs. Measurement of cervical length is the most cost-effective method that is used in clinical practice. Bedside tests have also been developed for detecting markers like fetal fibronectin, IGFBP-1, interleukin-6, and placental alpha-macroglobulin-1.
The study concluded that taking the maternal history, health condition, and socio-demographic factors into consideration is recommended. Ultrasound markers apart from cervical length measurements as uterocervical angle and placental strain ratio are studied. Investigations on metabolomics, proteomics, and microRNA profiling have brought a new aspect to this subject. Maybe in the future, with clear identification of women at genuine risk for preterm birth, developing more effective preventive strategies will not be unfeasible.
Reference: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jp/2018/8367571/
