View clinical trials related to Obstetric Labor, Premature.
Filter by:Working hypothesis and aims: To investigate the association between cervical length in non-pregnant women, and the risk of premature birth. The participants will be recruited from the HaEmek Medical Center delivery room registration. Women delivered between 24-37 pregnancy weeks will be allocated to the study group. The investigators will invite them 3 month or more after delivery to ultrasound examination of the cervical length. The participants in the control group will be the women whom term delivery follows by chronological manner to those in study group. Data of the cervucal length will be collected at the time of the examination.
The threat of preterm labour (PTL) is the first cause of hospitalization in the course of pregnancy. Its diagnostic is based on clinical examination with a positive predictive value of about 40 %. The role of the Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) in delivery has been suggested by its secretion in the amniotic fluid during labour and by the increase in the expression of its RNA messengers in the peripheral maternal blood. We have also shown that the proportion of MCP-1-expressing monocytes is higher in women with vaginal delivery compared with those with caesarean delivery prior the onset of labour. OBJECTIVES : Primary To seek link between the respective proportions of circulating maternal monocyte and lymphocyte subpopulations and the true onset of PTL characterised by delivery occurring within 7 days post admission. Secondary: to (1) compare the predictive values of these new markers with those currently used, e.g. quantification of fœtal fibronectin and assessment of cervical length and effacement, (2) Compare the respective proportions of monocytes and lymphocyte subpopulations in maternal blood and fœtal membranes, (3) determine if a correlation exists between the activation markers expressed by maternal monocyte and lymphocyte subpopulations and the neonatal outcomes of preterm infants. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 200 patients with a singleton pregnancy between 24 and 34 weeks of amenorrhea and complicated PTL, will be prospectively included in the maternity wards of Galway (Ireland) and of Dijon with the support of the perinatal network of Burgundy. A 2X5ml blood sample will be collected upon admission, at D1, D2, D4 and D6 for women who did not deliver within the first 7 days; finally, another blood sample will be drawn upon discharge. After delivery, foetal membranes will be collected to characterize and compare the various monocyte and lymphocyte subpopulations in the maternal blood. The characterization and the study of the level of activation of blood and foetal membrane cells will be performed using flow cytometry technique with suitable markers. The main judgment criteria will be the percentage of monocytes positively expressing MCP-1 for all three monocyte subpopulations ("inflammatory", "residents or patrollers" and "intermediates", according to CD14, CD16, CCR2 and MCP-1 markers. Lymphocyte subpopulations will be assessed using the following markers: CD45, CD3, CD4, CD8 (T lymphocytes), HLA-DR (activated T lymphocytes), CD19 (B lymphocytes), CD16/CD56 (NK Cells), intracellular IFN-gamma (Th1 lymphocytes), intracellular IL-4 (Th-2 lymphocytes), intracellular IL-17 and CCR6 (Th17 lymphocytes), CD4, CD25, Foxp3 and CD127 (Tregs). Univariate statistical analysis of quantitative data will be performed using the Mann and Witney test or ANOVA, after verification of the conditions of application. The comparisons of percentages will be done using Chi-square Pearson tests and the Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. The multivariate analysis will be performed using a stepwise descending analysis. TRANSLATIONAL DIMENSION: The characterization of the various monocyte and lymphocyte subpopulations in the maternal blood and in the foetal membranes might constitute an " immunological signature " of the labour and therefore validate the relevance of a predictive marker for clinicians. EXPECTED RESULTS AND PERSPECTIVES: The study of the various monocyte and lymphocyte subpopulations in the maternal blood will allow to better characterise the immunological mechanisms occurring at the start of premature labour and to identity predictive markers of the preterm delivery, to validate prospectively in order to optimize the management of PTL
Placement of a vaginal pessary reduces significantly the rate of spontaneous preterm birth in pregnant women with short cervical length after an episode of threatened preterm labour.
Preterm birth (PTB) is a leading contributor to perinatal morbidity and mortality. While patients with preterm labor (PTL) are at an increased risk for PTB, not all PTL patients will deliver preterm. In patients with PTB, there is a high prevalence of 'intrauterine inflammation' as demonstrated by a large body of evidence. The presence of inflammation is noted by infiltration of inflammatory cells in the placenta and/or maternal fever in labor and/or elevation of cytokines in the amniotic fluid. Despite this significant association of inflammation with PTB, identification of women destined to deliver preterm by inflammatory markers in maternal blood has not been successful. To date, it has been difficult to determine which patients with PTL will experience PTB. Identification of biomarkers, such as high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP) as well as others such as sICAM, Pentraxin, sE-Selectin, and CxCL-10 in maternal serum and in placental cord blood, may help to serve three very important clinical aims. 1) Identification of novel biomarkers in maternal serum could help to distinguish those women with PTL who are most likely to deliver PTB. 2) These biomarkers may have a high negative predictive value and thus identify those women who are not likely to deliver preterm, avoiding undue hospital admission and medical therapies. 3) Select biomarkers in the mother and/or in cord blood may serve to identify those preterm neonates at greatest risk for adverse outcome. Through improved identification of these infants, studies with targeted therapies to reduce adverse neonatal outcomes in preterm neonates become feasible. This study involves a cohort assessment of women at risk for Preterm birth secondary to preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and cervical insufficiency (CI), between 22-0/7 and 33-6/7 weeks gestational age. We will obtain information regarding patients' pertinent past medical and obstetric history as well as small samples of maternal blood at up to four occasions, small samples of placental cord blood, a maternal saliva sample, and an infant buccal swab. We will follow each of these patient's pregnancy outcomes, and determine if there are any correlations between levels of certain biomarkers and latency to delivery as well as composite adverse neonatal outcomes. In women with PTB < 37 weeks, cord blood will be collected (as well as maternal saliva and an infant buccal swab) and biomarkers compared between those infants with and without specific adverse neonatal outcomes. Maternal saliva and buccal will be collected on all women and infants enrolled.
The aim of the pilot trial is to assess at what extend women with arrested threatened preterm labor change their activity patterns at home in response to bed rest prescription. An area of concern for the design of a trial is the strength of health provider's recommendation to change women's behaviors, and their compliance with bed rest recommendations. The study was a randomized parallel design. The intervention group consisted of total bed rest for four days (with allowance to go to the toilet). The control group consisted in the restriction of activities during four days.
The purpose of this study is to better understand (1) if phospholipase A2 producing microorganisms and cytokines (IL-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-13) are associated with premature labor (2) if pregnant teens are more likely to have phospholipase A2 producing bacteria than a pregnant adults and (3) if there is a difference in the cytokines between pregnant teens and adults.We hypothesize that phospholipase producing microorganisms may trigger the onset of premature labor. The following are hypothesized: (a) The microorganism cultured should show high activities of phospholipase A2 (b) The cervical length measurement predictive value should correspond to the gestation age at term (c) Vaginal flora of teen will be more susceptible to colonization with higher phospholipase A2 producing bacteria than that of an adult (d) The maternal genotype contribution to the concentration of IL-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, and TNF-alpha during the first trimester of pregnancy in teens is different in the production of inflammatory cytokines and modulators(e) The maternal genotype of teens therefore influences the production of phospholipase A2 and causes an increase in preterm delivery.
Preterm birth is the most common and costly complication in obstetrics. It complicates up to 11% of all pregnancies and it is responsible for 70% of sick babies. The ideal way to stop preterm labor when it occurs (which drug to use) is not known. Currently magnesium sulfate is used by about 95% of all practitioners, but recent data suggest magnesium given this way may be harmful for the baby's future development. Other drugs such as antiprostaglandin agents are very effective in stopping uterine activity, but particularly when used for >48 hours have been associated with both maternal and fetal sides effects. Lastly, calcium channel antagonists are effective in stopping contractions and have very little in the way of maternal and fetal side effects, but less data is available in the United States on their use. Because there is no FDA approved drug to stop preterm labor, we purpose to randomize all women with preterm labor (20-34 weeks) to receive one of the above three methods of stopping preterm labor. The primary outcomes will be to see which agent stops the uterine contractions most effectively, for the longest period of time with fewest relapses and results in significant prolongation of pregnancy. If one of these agents is clearly superior to the other two it would help women avoid early delivery or have significant extension of their pregnancy to avoid some of the complications of preterm birth in the baby.
Eligible patients will be informed and asked to enroll in the study at hospital admission. A transvaginal ultrasound examination will be performed to determine cervical length. If an eligible woman accepts to participate, patient will be randomized to one of the study arms assigned in a double blind basis. Patient will receive the medication (vaginal capsule of progesterone or placebo). The patient will administer herself one vaginal capsule in a daily basis since gestational age of 36 weeks and 6 days as the primary endpoint is to demonstrate that the use of a maintenance treatment with vaginal progesterone is able to reduce the incidence of preterm birth before 34.0 and 37.0 gestational weeks. After delivery, perinatal and neonatal data will be collected.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and the safety of nifedipine compared to atosiban for treating preterm labor.
The antioxidant effect of N-Acetyl cysteine can abort the inflammatory cascade responsible for initiation of preterm labour especially among patients with reccurent preterm birth and patients having bacterial vaginosis