2 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Women pregnant with twins or triplets are at high risk of preterm birth, yet no intervention or approach has served to reduce this risk. A recently completed trial by the NICHD sponsored Maternal Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network has, for the first time, demonstrated a treatment that substantially reduces the rate of preterm birth in women at high risk for preterm delivery (i.e. progesterone therapy). Preterm birth was reduced by 35% among progesterone-treated women with a singleton pregnancy when compared with women receiving placebo. The current trial compares weekly treatment by injection of progesterone with placebo in women pregnant with twins or triplets.
Among women with a twin pregnancy, currently enrolled in a study in which they are receiving weekly injections of 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate verses placebo injections, fetal fibronectin (fFN) and salivary estriol (E3 ) will identify the following. 1. Women at increased risk for preterm delivery. 2. A subpopulation, among those receiving the active drug, who may respond to progesterone. If fFN and/or E3 identify a population of patients who respond to progesterone, these diagnostic tests may define women who may or may not be good candidates for progesterone therapy.