Promising Technologies in Obstetrics.pdfVIP

Curren/ Womens Health Reviews, 2006, 2, 207-221 Uterine EMG and Cervical LIF - Promising Technologies in Obstetrics Robert E. Garfield*, William L. Mader, Leili Shi, Shao Q. Shi and George R. Saade University of Texas Medical Branch, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Reproductive Sciences, 301 University, Route 1062, Galveston, Texas 77555, USA Abstract: No current objective measures exist to determine uterine or cervical function during pregnancy, or to accurately predict term or preterit) labor and delivery. Uterine electromyography (EMG) and cervical light-induced fluorescence (LIF) studies were performed in term and pre-term animals and humans to evaluate the state and function of the uterus and cervix, and to determine the predictive capability of measurements made using these new technologies. Both uterine EMG and cervical LIF produced high positive and negative predictive values, compared to other currently-used methods. Uterine EMG and cervical LIF show great promise as diagnostic tests during pregnancy and for patient monitoring in obstetrics. Keywords: Uterus, EMG, cervix, LIF, labor, parturition. 207 INTRODUCTION Perhaps the most important health problem in obstetrics today is pre-term birth and its associated complications. Preterm birth is the primary reason for infant morbidity and mortality, accounting for around 35% of all health care spending on infants [1]. Preterm birth affects more than 12% of births in the USA [2] and of these, 40-50% have been related to preteens labor [2-4]. Pre-term neonates, with birthweights less than 2500 g, represent about 10% of the total number of babies born each year. The complications of pre-term birth include significant neurological, mental, behavioral and pulmonary problems in later life. Among the pre-term survivors, the rate of neurological impairment varies from 10% to 20% and growth restriction occurs in approximately 20% of the surviving infants. The develop- ment of effective methods to pr