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Removal Versus Retention of Cerclage in Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM)

Phase 4
Terminated
Conditions
Fetal Membranes, Premature Rupture
Interventions
Procedure: Retention of Cerclage
Procedure: Removal of Cerclage
Procedure: Removal vs. Retention of Cervical Cerclage
Registration Number
NCT00201656
Lead Sponsor
Obstetrix Medical Group
Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether retention of cervical cerclage after PPROM improves latency (without a significant increase in chorioamnionitis) and lessens neonatal morbidity.

Detailed Description

The placement of cervical cerclage is standard of care for women who experience incompetent cervix. Treadwell et al, published the largest retrospective review of 482 patients receiving cerclage (364 elective and 118 emergent). They found premature rupture of membranes (PROM) in 38% of the subjects with 9% delivering \<27 weeks. Preterm birth is the cause of at least 75% of neonatal deaths that are not due to congenital malformations. The question of whether to remove cerclage after preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is one of the unresolved controversies in obstetrics because the few available studies are retrospective, all have small numbers of patients, and the studies have given conflicting results regarding the safety of retaining a cerclage after preterm premature rupture of the membranes. It is unclear from the retrospective studies whether latency (the interval from membrane rupture to the onset of labor) is prolonged with retention of the suture. Furthermore, some, but not all studies suggest an increase in major infectious maternal morbidity and possibly neonatal morbidity. For this reason, clinicians vary greatly in deciding on whether to remove a cerclage in a patient with PPROM and either practice is currently an acceptable standard. This is a fairly rare complication, the combination of PPROM in a patient with cerclage in place only occurs in about 1-3/1000 pregnant women. Thus it has been impossible to study this problem prospectively in any single institution. The establishment of the Obstetrix Collaborative Research Group affords the unique opportunity to study this rare complication. Obstetrix manages 19 practices of Perinatologists around the U.S. and Mexico and is comprised of nearly 100 such subspecialists. This problem is most often referred to a Perinatologist when it occurs, so it is not unusual for these practices to see 5 - 10 such patients per year. Obstetrix fully funds the infrastructure of this research group and inclusion in this study will not alter the cost of patient care in either group as there is virtually no cost in removing the cerclage and all these patients are kept in hospital until delivery when membranes rupture as standard of care.

This is a multicenter trial. The purpose is to determine whether retention of cerclage after preterm premature rupture of the membranes improves latency (without a significant increase in chorioamnionitis) and lessens neonatal morbidity.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
TERMINATED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
58
Inclusion Criteria
  1. A previously placed prophylactic cerclage defined as any cerclage done < 23 6/7 weeks including those done for previous history of cervical incompetence, asymptomatic cervical shortening (regardless of effacement) and asymptomatic cervical dilation < 3 cm
  2. Spontaneous rupture of membranes 22-32 weeks
  3. Singleton or twin gestation
  4. Shirodkar or McDonald cerclage in place > 1 week
Exclusion Criteria
  1. Active labor (> 8 uterine contractions [UCs] per hour)
  2. Chorioamnionitis as defined by temperature > 38 plus fetal tachycardia or uterine tenderness
  3. Placenta previa or undiagnosed vaginal bleeding
  4. Nonreassuring fetal status by nonstress test (NST) or biophysical profile (BPP)
  5. Mature pulmonary studies
  6. Positive gram stain, culture, white blood cells (WBC) > 30, or glucose < 14 on amniocentesis
  7. Major fetal anomaly
  8. Presentation > 48 hours after rupture of membranes
  9. abdominal cerclage
  10. Cerclage done for symptomatic cervical dilation (cervix dilated > 3 cm)
  11. Post amniocentesis membrane rupture (rupture which occurs within one week of amniocentesis)

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
1 Retention of CerclageRetention of CerclageGroup one = Subject whose Cerclage is retained after randomization.
2 - Removal of CerclageRemoval of CerclageGroup 2 = Subjects who will have cerclage removed after randomization
1 Retention of CerclageRemoval vs. Retention of Cervical CerclageGroup one = Subject whose Cerclage is retained after randomization.
2 - Removal of CerclageRemoval vs. Retention of Cervical CerclageGroup 2 = Subjects who will have cerclage removed after randomization
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Chorioamnionitis as defined by temperature > 38 plus fetal tachycardia or uterine tendernessconception to birth
Grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhagebirth to 28days of life
Stage 2 or 3 necrotizing enterocolitisbirth to 28days of life
Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) staybirth to 28days of life
Birth weightat birth
Composite neonatal outcome - any one of the following (for twins, either infant): Fetal or neonatal deathBirth to 28days of life
Respiratory distress syndromebirth to 28days of life
Documented sepsis within 72 hours of deliverybirth to 72 hours after delivery
Estimated gestational age (EGA) at deliveryat delivery
Postpartum endometritisbirth to 28days of life
Maternal sepsisbirth to 28days following delivery
Latencylabor to delivery
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (22)

Tucson Medical Center

🇺🇸

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Desert Good Samaritan Hospital

🇺🇸

Mesa, Arizona, United States

University of Illinois at Chicago

🇺🇸

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Erlanger Medical Center

🇺🇸

Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States

Long Beach Memorial Medical Center

🇺🇸

Long Beach, California, United States

Yale New-Haven Medical Center

🇺🇸

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital-Texas Center for Fetal Assessment

🇺🇸

Houston, Texas, United States

Evergreen Hospital

🇺🇸

Kirkland, Washington, United States

Good Samaritan Hospital

🇺🇸

San Jose, California, United States

University of Rochester Medical Center

🇺🇸

Rochester, New York, United States

Sunrise Medical Center

🇺🇸

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Banner Good Samaritan Hospital

🇺🇸

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Swedish Medical Center

🇺🇸

Seattle, Washington, United States

Saddleback Memorial Medical Center

🇺🇸

Laguna Hills, California, United States

University of Southern California-Irvine Medical Center

🇺🇸

Orange, California, United States

The University Hospital

🇺🇸

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Saint Luke's Hospital, Kansas City

🇺🇸

Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Lousiana State University Health Science

🇺🇸

Shreveport, Louisiana, United States

Rose Medical Center

🇺🇸

Denver, Colorado, United States

Sacred Heart Medical Center

🇺🇸

Eugene, Oregon, United States

Hutzel Women's Hospital

🇺🇸

Detroit, Michigan, United States

Presbyterian/St Luke's Hospital

🇺🇸

Denver, Colorado, United States

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