ABSTRACT

Preterm delivery is probably the most important problem in obstetrics, and a major public health concern. Recent developments - such as the preventive use of progesterone, and new data on possible mechanisms of initiation of parturition - have placed the topic at the forefront of the interests and preoccupation of many in maternal-fetal medicine an

part |2 pages

SECTION I: MECHANISMS

chapter 1|16 pages

Myometrial programming: a new concept underlying the regulation of myometrial function during pregnancy

ByStephen J Lye, Prudence Tsui, Xuesen Dong, Jennifer Mitchell, Anna Dorogin, Daniel MacPhee, Alexandra Oldenhoff, B Lowell Langille, John RG Challis, and Oksana Shynlova

chapter 2|16 pages

Cervical function during pregnancy and parturition

ByR Ann Word, Xiang-Hong Li

chapter 3|7 pages

Endocrine and paracrine mechanisms in human placenta and fetal membranes in preterm birth

ByMichela Torricelli, Alessia Giovannelli, Paolo Boy Torres, Letizia Galleri, Pasquale Florio, Filiberto Severi, Fernando M Reis, Felice Petraglia

chapter 4|7 pages

Stress and the pathophysiology of human birth

ByRoger Smith

part |2 pages

SECTION II; MEDIATORS

chapter 5|5 pages

Undernutrition, preterm birth, and the prostaglandin pathway

ByJohn RG Challis

chapter 6|4 pages

Gene redundancy in parturition: lessons for tocolysis?

ByAndrew M Blanks, Steven Thornton

chapter 7|10 pages

Regulation of inflammatory response pathways during pregnancy and labor

ByCarole R Mendelson, Jennifer C Condon, Daniel B Hardy

chapter 8|24 pages

Matrix biology and preterm birth

ByBrian R Heaps, Michael House, Simona Socrate, Phyllis Leppert, and Jerome F Strauss III

chapter 9|9 pages

Nitric oxide

ByJane E Norman, Inass Osman

chapter 10|10 pages

Relaxin-related preterm birth

ByGerson Weiss, Laura T Goldsmith

part |2 pages

SECTION III: METHODS OF PREDICTION AND PREVENTION

part |2 pages

SECTION IV: CURRENT STATUS OF INTERVENTIONS

chapter 14|8 pages

Calcium-channel blockers and betamimetics

ByJohn J Morrison, Sharon M Cooley

chapter 16|3 pages

Progestational agents and labor

ByPaul J Meis

chapter 17|11 pages

Antenatal corticosteroid treatment

ByJohn P Newnham and Timothy JM Moss

chapter 18|7 pages

Monitoring the growth-restricted fetus during the preterm period

ByGerard HA Visser