Quantitative assessment of placental alpha macroglobulin-1 for predicting impending preterm delivery in asymptomatic women with a short cervix.

Aims: Preterm delivery (PTD) is a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Accurate prediction is crucial for optimizing clinical outcomes, particularly in women with a short cervix. Although fetal fibronectin (FFN) is widely used to predict PTD, placental alpha-microglobulin-1 (PAMG-1) has gained attention for its potential to improve predictive accuracy. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of quantitative PAMG-1 assessment for predicting impending PTD in asymptomatic women with a short cervix (≤25 mm) between 24 and 34 weeks of gestation.

Methods: This observational cohort study analyzed 212 cervicovaginal fluid samples from 77 patients (132 from 49 singleton and 80 from 28 twin pregnancies). PAMG-1 and FFN levels were measured, and multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate their association with PTD risk.

Results: In singleton pregnancies, positive PAMG-1 was independently associated with impending PTD, with odds ratios of 7.84 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.02-30.50; p = 0.003) and 7.34 (95% CI, 2.75-19.60; p < 0.001) for PTD within 1 and 2 weeks, respectively. Quantitative PAMG-1 showed a dose-dependent relationship, with PTD risks increasing from 4.3% (<1000 pg/mL) to 50.0% (≥3000 pg/mL) within 1 week and from 10.0% to 90.0% for PTD within 2 weeks. In twin pregnancies, both PAMG-1 and FFN showed limited predictive utility.

Conclusions: This study highlights the potential of PAMG-1 quantification as a valuable tool for refining PTD risk stratification, particularly in singleton pregnancies. While further prospective multicenter validation is needed, these findings provide new clinical insights for improving PTD management.