Objective: To compare the success rate of nifedipine administration as a tocolytic agent and bed rest for preventing uterine contraction of pregnant women with threatened preterm labour. Methods: A total of 188 pregnant women with threatened preterm labour between 26-35 weeks were enrolled in this study. Cervical measurement was performed in all patients. All women in each group (94 cases) were...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the frequency of bacterial vaginosis in women with preterm labour. METHODS Descriptive cross sectional study carried out in department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Military Hospital and Army Medical College Laboratory, Rawalpindi. Non-probability convenience sampling was used and the study was completed in 12 months (from 1st January 2007 - 1st January 2008). Hundred p...

Preterm birth occurs in 10% of pregnancies and is a major cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. The majority of cases of early preterm labour are associated with infection/inflammation, which places the fetal central nervous system at risk. Targeting immune activation is therefore an appealing therapeutic strategy for the prevention of preterm labour and neonatal brain injury. The expressi...

BACKGROUND Parturition at term and preterm is characterized by sterile inflammatory processes occurring in the absence of infection whereby peripheral leukocytes infiltrate gestational tissues in response to chemotactic signals. In response to a homing signal, recruited leukocytes undergo diapedesis and extravasate through capillaries, migrating into stromal tissue. There they interact with res...

Preterm birth (PTB), defined as a delivery before 37 weeks of gestation, is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Diagnosis of preterm labour as well as accurate prediction of PTB is notoriously difficult. Preterm birth is initiated by multiple mechanisms including infection or inflammation which is the only pathological process for which a firm causal link with PTB ...

BACKGROUND The periodontopathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) has been reported as a risk factor for preterm labour. Its pathogenesis and role in pregnancy have not been investigated in Lebanon. Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in pregnant women with periodontitis also appear to mediate preterm labour. METHODOLOGY The study included 20 pregnant women with periodontitis and 20 with n...

In order to assess racial differences in rates of idiopathic preterm labour, preterm premature rupture of membranes, and medically indicated preterm delivery, the authors analysed data on 388 preterm (< 37 completed weeks of gestation) births (7.9% of all births) occurring between 1 September 1988 and 31 August 1989, in three central North Carolina counties. The crude relative risk (RR) of pret...