Transvaginal sonographic measurement of cervical length versus Bishop score in labor induction at term for prediction of caesarean delivery.

OBJECTIVE: The current study aims to compare between a transvaginal sonographic measurement of cervical length and Bishop score in the induction of labor (IOL) at term for prediction of cesarean delivery (CD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study included 320 full-term pregnant women attending Ain Shams Maternity Hospital in the period from August 2017 to February 2018 were enrolled. Seventy-three women were delivered by CD (positive group), and 247 women were delivered vaginally (negative group). All patients had a vaginal examination for assessing the Bishop Score before IOL then a transvaginal ultrasound for assessment of cervical length. IOL was initiated by using PGE1 analog. The primary outcome measure was the accuracy of the cervical length or the bishop score for prediction of the CD. RESULTS: In our current study, CD was achieved in 22.8% of all participants while vaginal delivery was achieved in 77.8% after IOL by misoprostol 25 micrograms within 24 h from the beginning of induction. Both the cervical length and Bishop Score had poor predictive value for CD (AUC = 0.694 and 0.623, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Both transvaginal sonography for cervical length and Bishop score are useful predictors of the need for CD following labor induction.

Measurement of maternal serum amyloid A as a novel marker of preterm birth.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between maternal serum amyloid A (mSAA) levels and preterm birth (PTB). METHODS: This prospective observational nested case control study was conducted at Ain Shams University Maternity Hospital, Cairo, Egypt, between May 2017 and December 2017. The study recruited pregnant women at 26-34 weeks presented with threatened preterm labor (PTL). Women with PTB were included in cases group while control group included women who continued pregnancy and delivered at term. Serum samples were collected to measure mSAA levels. The main outcome of the study was the association between mSAA levels and PTB. Secondary outcomes included neonatal intensive care unit admissions and neonatal mortality. RESULTS: Fifty-eight women were included in the final analysis (29 in each group). Women with PTB had a statistically significant higher mSAA levels [5.1 (4.5-7.7) vs. 1.2 (0.0-2.5) mg/l, for cases and controls respectively, p < .001]. Higher mSAA levels were also observed among women whose babies were admitted to NICU, but there was no significant relation between mSAA level and neonatal death. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between mSAA and gestational age at delivery and neonatal birth weight. mSAA had an excellent value to predict PTB (AUC = 0.972 [95% CI, 0.891-0.998], p < .0001), fair value to predict admission to NICU and a poor value to predict neonatal death. CONCLUSIONS: mSAA level was found to be elevated among women with threatened PTL who end with PTB; mSAA is a potentially useful predictive marker of PTB that warrant further study. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: NCT01639027.