OC17.07: Quantitative cervicovaginal fluid fetal fibronectin: a liquid biopsy for intra‐amniotic inflammation

To determine: 1) whether quantitative cervicovaginal fluid fetal fibronectin (fFN) test can be used to identify the presence of intra-amniotic inflammation in women presenting with spontaneous preterm labour and intact membranes; and 2) appropriate cut-off value of cervicovaginal fluid fFN concentration for the identification of intra-amniotic inflammation. This prospective cohort study included 78 patients with preterm labour and intact membranes who had a sample collected for quantitative cervicovaginal fluid fFN measurement and underwent transabdominal amniocentesis. Intra-amniotic inflammation was defined as an amniotic fluid IL-6≥2.6 ng/mL. The diagnostic indices of cervicovaginal fluid fFN test for the identification of intra-amniotic inflammation were calculated. 1) Frequency of intra-amniotic inflammation was 26.9% (21/78); 2) the higher cervicovaginal fluid fFN concentration, the greater the risk of intra-amniotic inflammation (p < 0.001); 3) cervicovaginal fluid fFN concentration ≥125 ng/mL had an area under the curve of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.83-0.96) for the identification of intra-amniotic inflammation with 100% sensitivity, 82.46% specificity and a positive likelihood ratio of 5.7; 4) cervicovaginal fluid fFN cut-off of 125 ng/mL had a significant higher predictive performance than the traditional cut-off (50 ng/mL) for the identification of intra-amniotic inflammation (see figure 1). Quantitative cervicovaginal fluid fFN with a cut-off of 125 ng/mL had high sensitivity, specificity and positive likelihood ratio for the identification of intra-amniotic inflammation. This test is considered a non-invasive liquid biopsy for intra-amniotic inflammation. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.