Screening for preterm birth in twin pregnancies

Amanda Roman; Alexandra Ramirez; Nathan S Fox

doi:10.1016/j.ajogmf.2021.100531

Screening for preterm birth in twin pregnancies

Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2022 Mar;4(2S):100531. doi: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2021.100531. Epub 2021 Nov 20.

Authors

Amanda Roman¹, Alexandra Ramirez², Nathan S Fox³

Affiliations

¹ Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA (Drs Roman and Ramirez). Electronic address: amanda.roman@jefferson.edu.
² Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA (Drs Roman and Ramirez).
³ Maternal Fetal Medicine Associates, PLLC, New York, NY (Dr Fox); and Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY (Dr Fox).

PMID: 34808401
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2021.100531

Abstract

Twins represent 3.2% of all live births. However, they account for 20% of all preterm deliveries, with 60% delivered before 37 weeks and 10.7% before 32 weeks of gestation. Twin pregnancies have a 5 times higher risk of early neonatal and infant death related to prematurity. Monochorionic twins have a higher incidence of both indicated and spontaneous preterm delivery than dichorionic twins. Additional risk factors include a history of preterm delivery and cervical surgery. The transvaginal cervical length before 24 weeks is the best factor to predict preterm birth, independent of other risk factors.

Keywords: preterm birth; transvaginal cervical length; twin pregnancy.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cervix Uteri
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Twin*
Premature Birth* / diagnosis
Premature Birth* / epidemiology
Premature Birth* / etiology
Retrospective Studies
Twins, Dizygotic