Assessment for Subtle Collagenopathy Predicts Preterm Birth Among Pregnant Women with Short Cervix

Activity: Talk or presentation typesOral presentation

Description

Genetic disorders affecting connective tissues (e.g., Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome) are known risk factors for cervical shortening during pregnancy and preterm birth. Recently our group revealed 12 genes primarily related to cervical shortening, the majority of which are known to cause collagenopathies, thus proposing an idea of cervical shortening as a subtle form of collagenopathy. The aim of our study was to analyse association between collagenopathy and pregnancy outcomes among pregnant women with cervical insufficiency or short cervix.. Seventy patients from Riga Maternity Hospital in Riga, Latvia, between 2017 and 2021 were included in the prospective longitudinal cohort study. Women with singleton pregnancy and cervical shortening (defined as cervical length ≤25mm before 28 weeks of gestation) were clinically examined for collagenopathies. Examination was performed by using the modified Beighton-Brighton score which was developed by our group with the aim to identify subtle collagenopathies.. The mean cervical length at inclusion was 12.5 mm ±7.6 SD. Complaints (pelvic pressure, weak irregular contractions and/or backache, change in vaginal discharge) at the time diagnosis was made in 22 (31.4%) of patients. The modified Beighton-Brighton score reached threshold indicating collagenopathy in 13 (18.6%) patients. There were 37 (52.9%) cases of preterm birth or second trimester loss. The presence of collagenopathy significantly predicted chance to have preterm birth (B=1.478, z=2.00, p=0.046, OR=4.38). The presence of collagenopathy increased the chance to have preterm birth by 4.38 times on average (CI 95% [1.0–18.70]).. The results of our study make contribution to the existing knowledge about the association between collagenopathies and preterm birth. The implementation of the modified Beighton-Brighton score in clinical practice could facilitate rapid identification of pregnant women at high risk for preterm birth.
Period29 Mar 2023
Event titleRSU International Research Conference 2023: Knowledge for Use in Practice
Event typeConference
OrganiserRīga Stradiņš University
LocationRiga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

Field of Science

  • 3.2 Clinical medicine