BACKGROUND To determine whether preterm delivery is more effectively predicted by sonographic cervical length measurement using fixed cut-off or gestational age-specific percentiles. METHODS One hundred and eight patients hospitalized for suspected preterm labor (PTL) were studied prospectively between the 20th and the 33rd week of gestation. RESULTS Cervical length below 15 mm, 25 mm and t...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study of multifetal pregnancies was the comparison of three-dimensional (3D) volumetry of the cervix, conventional sonographic cervical length measurement and clinical assessment. METHODS 10 mothers were investigated in an observational study between 5/1999 and 9/2000. A total of 34 consecutive 2D- and 3D-transabdominal ultrasound measurements were performed. RESUL...

OBJECTIVES To estimate the risk of spontaneous preterm birth in twin pregnancies based on transvaginal sonographic cervical length, fetal fibronectin (fFN) testing, and the gestational age at which these tests were performed. METHODS Women with twin pregnancies, cervical length assessment, and fFN testing between 22 weeks and 31 weeks 6 days in a single maternal-fetal medicine practice from 2...

BACKGROUND Minimally invasive posterior cervical foraminotomy for radicular symptoms has become more prevalent. The reported experience with microscopic tubular assisted posterior cervical laminoforaminotomy (MTPF) for the treatment of radicular pain is lacking. Tubular assisted techniques have been considered to offer significant benefit, over open procedures, in terms of minimizing tissue dam...

The objective of our study was to evaluate the correlation of the cervical length at 20-25 weeks of gestation with the incidence of spontaneous preterm delivery in twins in a country with a high incidence of preterm delivery compared to other European countries. Cervical length was measured in 262 consecutive patients. Previous preterm delivery before 34 weeks of gestation, chorionicity, matern...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of 9 strategies for the management of threatened preterm labor. STUDY DESIGN We derived 6 management options from the literature. These were (1) to treat all women with tocolytics and corticosteroids ("treat all"); (2) to treat all women while awaiting results of the "traditional" fetal fibronectin test results, then ...