OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the relationship between the degree of cervical shortening and intraamniotic inflammation in patients presenting with a midtrimester short cervix.
STUDY DESIGN: Amniocentesis was performed on singleton pregnancies between 16-24 weeks\u27 gestation with a sonographic cervical length (CL)
RESULTS: In all, 109 amniotic fluid samples were analyzed. Most (21 of 25) cytokines were inversely correlated to CL. Monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 was the most significant by stepwise regression. Using a cutoff of MCP-1 \u3e 1500 pg/mL, CL of 5 mm had an 86% sensitivity, 85% specificity, 58% positive predictive value, and 96% negative predictive value to predict elevated MCP-1 levels. After excluding patients with intraamniotic infection or labor, findings were similar.
CONCLUSION: C
