Cervico-vaginal fetal fibronectin: predictive value during false labor.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose was to determine to what extent fetal fibronectin was a discriminative test of preterm delivery in patients hospitalized for uterine contractions without modification of the cervix.

STUDY

DESIGN

The prospective double-blind study included patients hospitalized between 24 and 34 week for false labor. Cervicovaginal swabs were obtained and assayed for the presence of fetal fibronectin by means of a monoclonal antibody assay.

RESULTS

Out of the 61 patients included, 18 showed a positive swab. The correlation of a positive result with preterm delivery revealed a sensitivity of 56%, a specificity of 81%, and positive and negative predictive values of 56% and 81% respectively. Meta-analysis of studies published shows that the presence of fibronectin represents a significant relative risk of 3.3 (IC: 2.5-42) of preterm delivery.

CONCLUSION

The presence of fetal fibronectin in cervicovaginal secretions of patients presenting with false labor indicates a major risk of preterm delivery.