Fetal Fibronectin Detection in Combination with Cervical Length Measurement to Predict Spontaneous Preterm Birth

Objective To determine the value of fetal fibronectin(fFN) detection combined with cervical length(CL) measurement in prediction of spontaneous preterm birth.Methods Sixty pregnant women with symptoms of threatened premature labor underwent fFN and CL testing.The pregnancy outcomes were tracked.Results Among the 60 women,30 delivered prematurely(preterm group),and 30 delivered full-term infants(full-term group).Positive fFN was found in 32 women,including 25 women in preterm group(positive rate,78.12%) and 7 women in full-term group(positive rate,21.88%),with a significant difference between the two groups(P0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,and positive and negative predictive values of fFN were 83.33%,76.66%,78.12%,and 82.14%,respectively.CL was(21.21±6.11)mm and(29.61±6.71)mm in preterm group and full-term group,respectively,and the difference between the two group was statistically significant(P0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,and positive and negative predictive values of CL≤26 were 90.00%,73.33%,77.14%,and 88.00%,respectively,and of the combination of fFN and CL were 76.66%,56.66%,92.00%,and 94.44%,respectively.Conclusion The detection of fFN combined with the measurement of CL can improve the positive and negative predictive values in predicting spontaneous preterm birth.