Enhanced Identification of At-Risk Women for Preterm Birth via Quantitative Ultrasound: A Prospective Cohort Study
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
4:26pm – 4:33pm
Location: 410
Authors: Barbara McFarlin, University of Illinois at Chicago Michelle Villegas-Downs, University of Illinois Chicago Mehrdad Mohammadi, University Of Illinois Urbana Champaign Aiguo Han, Virginia Tech Douglas Simpson, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign William D. O'Brien, Jr., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ,
In the last decade, 152 million babies were born preterm worldwide. Efforts to predict women at risk of spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) have been challenging due to limited indicators and symptoms, compounded by the lack of screening tools with adequate sensitivity to identify women at risk. Our study indicated that quantitative ultrasound (QUS) features enhance preterm birth risk assessment when compared to historical clinical features alone. Historically, clinicians have relied upon historical risk factors and clinical symptoms for PTB risk assessment. In nulliparous women, clinicians may rely solely on reported symptoms to assess for risk of PTB. QUS was able to detect sPTB risk in women without any history of a previous PTB. QUS provided clinicians with microstructural information of cervical remodeling that can lead to PTB, rather than relying on symptoms of preterm labor. A final strength of this research is that interventions and medicines have the potential to be tested to determine how they interact with cervix tissue rather than an expert opinion. The cervix is an ideal tissue for QUS, a reliable and valid measure of cervical remodeling, as the cervix undergoes remarkable structural and functional changes in a short amount of time.