Abstract
Objective: To identify the association between cervical length
(CL) and gestational age at birth.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Seventeen Brazilian reference hospitals.
Population: A cohort of 3139 asymptomatic singleton pregnant
women who participated in the screening phase of a Brazilian multicenter
randomized controlled trial (P5 trial).
Methods: Transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) to measure CL was
performed from 18 to 22+6 weeks. Women with CL ≤ 30 mm received vaginal
progesterone (200 mg/day) until 36 weeks’ gestation.
Main Outcome Measures : Area under receive operating
characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, Kaplan-Meier
curves for preterm birth (PTB), number needed to screen (NNS).
Results: CL ≤25mm was associated with extremely severe, severe,
moderate and late PTB, whereas a CL 25–30mm was directly associated
with late sPTB. The AUC to predict sPTB<28 weeks was 0.82 and
for sPTB<34 weeks was 0.67. Almost half of the sPTB occurred
in nulliparous women and CL ≤30mm was associated with sPTB <37
weeks (OR = 7.84; 95%CI = 5.5–11.1). The NNS to detect one sPTB
<34 weeks in women with CL ≤25mm is 121 and 248 screening
tests are necessary to prevent one sPTB <34 weeks using
vaginal progesterone prophylaxis.
Conclusions: CL measured by TVU is associated with sPTB
<34 weeks. Women with CL ≤30mm are at increased risk for late
sPTB.
Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1107597], the
Brazilian Ministry of Health, and the Brazilian National Council for
Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [401615/20138].
Keywords : cervical length; number needed to screen; preterm
birth; short cervix.