A new screening of preterm birth in gestation with short cervix after pessary plus progesterone.

Objective: This study aims to create a new screening for preterm birth < 34 weeks after gestation with a cervical length (CL) ≤ 30 mm, based on clinical, demographic, and sonographic characteristics.

Methods: This is a analysis of a randomized clinical trial (RCT), which included pregnancies, in middle-gestation, screened with transvaginal ultrasound. After observing inclusion criteria, the patient was invited to compare pessary plus progesterone (PP) versus progesterone only (P) (1:1).

A new model based on artificial intelligence to screening preterm birth.

Objective: The objective of this study is to create a new screening for spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) based on artificial intelligence (AI).

Methods: This study included 524 singleton pregnancies from 18th to 24th-week gestation after transvaginal ultrasound cervical length (CL) analyzes for screening sPTB < 35 weeks. AI model was created based on the stacking-based ensemble learning method (SBELM) by the neural network, gathering CL < 25 mm, multivariate unadjusted logistic regression (LR), and the best AI algorithm.

An enlarged fetal thymus may be the initial response to intrauterine inflammation in pregnant women at risk for preterm birth.

Objective: Fetal thymus involvement in prematurity has been studied, and this study aimed to evaluate its relationship with short cervix and amniotic fluid sludge in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 79 pregnant women (19+0 to 24+6 weeks) were included, and cervical length and the presence or absence of amniotic fluid sludge were evaluated. In the three-vessel view of the fetal thorax, the thymus was identified, and its perimeter and transverse diameter were measured and transformed to a zeta score based on gestational age.

Cervical pessary plus vaginal progesterone in a singleton pregnancy with a short cervix: an experience-based analysis of cervical pessary's efficacy.

Background: Several studies were published about cervical pessary, with controversial results. These studies demonstrated that the patient follow-up after pessary insertion is very different between the study centers and the number of pessary insertions per center was often <30 cases. This study aims to determine cervical pessary performance in singleton pregnancies with a short cervix based on a single center learning curve.

Cervical Pessary Plus Progesterone for Twin Pregnancy with Short Cervix Compared to Unselected and Non-Treated Twin Pregnancy: A Historical Equivalence Cohort Study (EPM Twin Pessary Study).

Objective:  The present study aims to determine if the use of cervical pessary plus progesterone in short-cervix (≤ 25 mm) dichorionic-diamniotic (DC-DA) twin pregnancies is equivalent to the rate of preterm births (PBs) with no intervention in unselected DC-DA twin pregnancies.

Methods:  A historical cohort study was performed between 2010 and 2018, including a total of 57 pregnant women with DC-DA twin pregnancies. The women admitted from 2010 to 2012 ( = 32) received no treatment, and were not selected by cervical length (Non-Treated group, NTG), whereas those admitted from 2013 to 2018 ( = 25), were routinely submitted to cervical pessary plus progesterone after the diagnosis of short cervix from the 18th to the 27th weeks of gestation (Pessary-Progesterone group, PPG).

Antibiotic treatment for patients with amniotic fluid "sludge" to prevent spontaneous preterm birth: A historically controlled observational study.

Introduction: Amniotic fluid "sludge" has been associated with an increased rate of spontaneous preterm delivery before 35 weeks, a higher frequency of clinical and histologic chorioamnionitis in a high-risk population. Only one study evaluating the use of antibiotics in the presence of amniotic fluid "sludge" showed reduced rates of spontaneous preterm birth at <34 weeks. The objective of this study was to evaluate routine antibiotic treatment in the presence of amniotic fluid "sludge" for prevention of preterm delivery.

Amniotic fluid "sludge" is an independent risk factor for preterm delivery.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and the clinical significance of amniotic fluid "sludge" (AFS) in asymptomatic patients at low and high risk for spontaneous preterm delivery.

Method: A prospective cohort study was conducted on 195 singleton pregnancies at low or high risk for preterm birth (PTB) between the 16th and 26th weeks. Cervical length (CL) <25 mm and the presence of AFS were evaluated.

Prenatal diagnosis of penoscrotal hypospadia in third trimester by two- and three-dimensional ultrasonography: a case report.

Hypospadia is an abnormal development of the corpus spongiosum, that involves cavernosa urethra, as a result of an inadequate fusion of the urethral folds. The incidence ranges from 0.2 to 4.

Reference range for fetal interventricular septum area by means of four-dimensional ultrasonography using spatiotemporal image correlation.

Objective: To determine reference range for fetal interventricular septum area by means of 3-dimensional ultrasonography (3DUS) using the spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) method.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on 328 normal pregnant women between the 18th and 33rd gestational weeks. To obtain the interventricular septum area, a virtual plane was used, with the green line (region of interest) adjacent to the external margin of the septum, which was manually delimited.

Reference ranges of atrioventricular valve areas by means of four-dimensional ultrasonography using spatiotemporal image correlation in the rendering mode.

Objective: This study aims to determine reference curves for fetal atrioventricular valve areas by means of three-dimensional ultrasound using the spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) software.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional prospective study on 328 normal fetuses between the 18th and the 33rd weeks of pregnancy. In order to obtain valve areas, the four heart chambers plane was used with the fetus in a dorsal posterior position.

Reference intervals for fetal ear length between 19 and 24 weeks of pregnancy on 3-dimensional sonography.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish reference intervals for fetal ear length using 3-dimensional sonography in the rendering mode.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 114 women from 19 weeks to 23 weeks 6 days of normal pregnancy. Fetal ear length measurement was performed in the rendering mode, obtained from 2-dimensional mode reconstruction.