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Study Finds Promising New Treatment for Prematurity
FEB. 6, 2003 -- Researchers speaking today at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine reported on a clinical trial of a new treatment for prematurity, using a derivative of the hormone progesterone. The study consisted of about 450 women who had previously had a premature baby. The women who received weekly injections of the compound had a 30 percent reduced incidence of preterm delivery compared to the women who were not treated.
"This is a very impressive result, and this treatment may prove to be a powerful new tool to help prevent preterm birth in women at high risk because of their previous history," said Nancy S. Green, M.D., medical director of the March of Dimes. "We look forward to a larger clinical trial to confirm the findings."
The abstract for this study, "17 Alpha Hydroxyprogesterone Caproate Prevents Recurrent Preterm Birth," by Paul J. Meis for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Maternal Fetal Medicine Network, Bethesda, Maryland, was published in the December 2002 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine meeting takes place Feb. 3-8 in San Francisco, CA.
In January 2003, the March of Dimes launched a five-year, $75 million Prematurity Campaign. The goals of this campaign are to increase public awareness of the problem of prematurity and to decrease the rate of preterm birth by at least 15 percent by 2007.
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