Preterm birth prediction with interleulin-6 and cervical length in pregnant women with preterm labor

Objective To investigate the predictive value of interleulin-6(IL-6) and cervical length alone and combination for detection preterm birth in pregnant women with preterm labor.Methods Sixty cases of singleton pregnant women who threatened premature labor needs of hospitalized tocolysis were studied.Serum IL-6 levels and cervical length under transabdominal ultrasound scan were measured.The outcomes were recorded and the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value(PPV) and negative predictive value(NPV) of IL-6 and cervical length and their combination were analyzed statistically.Results Among 60 cases,positive IL-6 was detected in 8 cases in which 4 cases of premature delivery.The prevalence of preterm delivery among those women with IL-6(+) was 50.00%(4/8).Only one preterm birth occurred among those 52 cases with IL-6(-).In 55 pregnant women with preterm labor under trans-abdominal ultrasound scan,5 cases cervical length was less than 2.6 cm,and 4 cases of which were delivered within 37 weeks(80%).One preterm birth occurred among the 50 cases with cervical length longer than 2.6 cm.The sensitivity,specificity,PPV and NPV of IL-6 for preterm birth were 80.00%(4/5),92.73%(51/52),80.00%(4/5) and 92.73%(51/52) and for cervical length,they were 80.00%(4/5),98.00%(49/50),80.00%(4/5) and 98.00%(49/50).Combined with IL-6 and cervical length,the sensitivity,specificity,PPV and NPV were 80.00%(4/5),100.00%(45/45),100.00%(4/4) and 97.83%(45/46),respectively.Conclusion IL-6 is valuable in predicting preterm birth in women with preterm labor.Cervical length is also an important means for predicting the preterm birth.IL-6 combined with cervical length can improve the specificity and positive predictive rate.