Effects of Maternal Cervical Incompetence on Morbidity and Mortality of Preterm Neonates with Birth weight Less than 2000g

Objective: This study aimed to determine the impact of maternal cervical incompetence (with or without McDonald cerclage) on mortality and morbidity of preterm infant with birth weight <2000g. Methods: 581 neonates were eligible for this study, 79 with cervical incompetence and 502 without it (control). Incidences of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), severe asphyxia，small for gestational age (SGA), early-onset sepsis (EOS), and mortality were compared between the two groups. Findings: Mean gestational age was earlier in cervical incompetence group than in control (30.2±2.1 vs 30.7±1.9, P<0.05). Except lower frequency of SGA, there were no significant differences in the incidences of RDS, BPD, ROP, PVL, IVH, NEC, EOS, severe asphyxia and mortality between the two groups. Infants with no cerclage had a higher prevalence of RDS (21/66 vs 9/13, P<0.05) compared to cerclage group due to lower mean gestational age (30.68±2.1 vs 28.6±1.4, P<0.01) and birth weight (1519.5±274.6 vs 1205.8±204.4, P<0.001), and clinical neonatal outcomes of the elective cerclage were similar to emergency cerclage in cervical incompetence groups. Conclusion: Maternal cervical incompetence was not associated with postnatal adverse neonatal outcomes. Lower mean gestational age was a major risk associated with higher prevalence of RDS in preterm neonates with no McDonald cerclage, and emergency cerclage did not predict poor clinical neonatal outcomes.