The influence of race on cervical length in pregnant women in Brazil
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Evelyn Minis
,
Antonio Fernandes Moron
,
Alan Hatanaka
Abstract
Objectives
Short cervical length is a predictor of preterm birth. We evaluated if there were racial differences in variables associated with cervical length in pregnant Brazilian women.
Methods
Cervical length was determined by vaginal ultrasound in 414 women at 21 weeks gestation. All women were seen at the same clinic and analyzed by the same investigators. Women found to have a short cervix (≤25 mm) received vaginal progesterone throughout gestation. Composition of the vaginal microbiome was determined by analysis of the V1–V3 region of the gene coding for bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA. Demographic, clinical and outcome variables were determined by chart review. Subjects were 53.4% White, 37.2% mixed race and 9.4% Black.
Results
Pregnancy, medical history and education level were similar in all groups. Mean cervical length was shorter in Black women (28.4 mm) than in White (32.4 mm) or mixed race (32.8 mm) women (p≤0.016) as was the percentage of women with a short cervix (23.1, 12.2, 7.8% in Black, White, mixed race respectively) (p≤0.026). Mean cervical length increased with maternal age in White (p=0.001) and mixed race (p=0.045) women but not Black women. There were no differences in bacterial dominance in the vaginal microbiota between groups. Most women with a short cervix delivered at term.
Conclusions
We conclude that Black women in Brazil have a shorter cervical length than White or mixed race women independent of maternal age, pregnancy and demographic history or composition of the vaginal microbiome.
Funding source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Award Identifier / Grant number: 401626/2013-0
Funding source: Ministério da Saúde
Funding source: National Research Council
Funding source: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Funding source: University of Idaho
Acknowledgment
The authors thank Ann Marie Bongiovanni for data collection and coordination.
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Research funding: This study was supported by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Brazilian Ministry of Health (DECIT) and the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq – grant 401626/2013-0). Sequence data collection and analyses were performed by the IBEST Genomics Resources Core at the University of Idaho which is supported in part by NIH COBRE grant P30GM103324.
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Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
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Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
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Ethical approval: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at The Federal University of São Paulo. In addition, the study was performed in compliance with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies and in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration.
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© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
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- Original Articles – Obstetrics
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- Initial review of pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 infection
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- Pre-operative tranexemic acid vs. etamsylate in reducing blood loss during elective cesarean section: randomized controlled trial
- External validation of a prediction model on vaginal birth after caesarean in a The Netherlands: a prospective cohort study
- The influence of race on cervical length in pregnant women in Brazil
- Original Articles – Fetus
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- Original Articles – Neonates
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Clinical evaluation of labor: an evidence- and experience-based approach
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- How fever is defined in COVID-19 publications: a disturbing lack of precision
- Initial review of pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 infection
- Usefulness of COVID-19 screen-and-test approach in pregnant women: an experience from a country with low COVID-19 burden
- Clinical chorioamnionitis at term X: microbiology, clinical signs, placental pathology, and neonatal bacteremia – implications for clinical care
- Cytokine profiling: variation in immune modulation with preterm birth vs. uncomplicated term birth identifies pivotal signals in pathogenesis of preterm birth
- Hyperechoic amniotic membranes in patients with preterm premature rupture of membranes (p-PROM) and pregnancy outcome
- A novel technique for prediction of preterm birth: fetal nasal flow Doppler
- Pregnant women’s knowledge and behaviour to prevent cytomegalovirus infection: an observational study
- Reference intervals and reliability of cavum septi pellucidi volume measurements by three-dimensional ultrasound between 19 and 24 weeks’ gestation
- First-trimester presentation of ultrasound findings in trisomy 13 and validation of multiparameter ultrasound-based risk calculation models to detect trisomy 13 in the late first trimester
- Pre-operative tranexemic acid vs. etamsylate in reducing blood loss during elective cesarean section: randomized controlled trial
- External validation of a prediction model on vaginal birth after caesarean in a The Netherlands: a prospective cohort study
- The influence of race on cervical length in pregnant women in Brazil
- Original Articles – Fetus
- A 24-segment fractional shortening of the fetal heart using FetalHQ
- Original Articles – Neonates
- Antenatal corticosteroids and short-term neonatal outcomes in term and near-term infants of diabetic mothers. Analysis of the Qatar PEARL-peristat registry
- Acute respiratory effect of transpyloric feeding for respiratory exacerbation in preterm infants
- Quality improvement for reducing utilization drift in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy management
- Letter to the Editor
- Cross transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and obstetric ultrasound
- ‘Getting to zero’ cross transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in obstetric ultrasound during COVID-19 pandemic
