Effectiveness of Serum Ferritin in the Diagnosis of Preterm Labor

Preterm birth defined as delivery before 37 completed weeks was implicated in the cause of approximately two thirds of neonatal deaths. Some studies have shown that a positive relationship exists between inflammatory factors such as Ferritin، G-CSF، and IL6 and occurrence of preterm birth. The present study is done to estimate Serum ferritin for the prediction of preterm birth and determination of sensitivity and specificity of ferritin in diagnosis of preterm birth. This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Alzahra & Beheshti Hospitals، Esfahan، Iran during 2008-2009. All of the pregnant women who have the included criteria were investigated. 69 preterm and 153 term labors were studied. During the pregnancy، the level of serum ferritin was measured. The data was entered into a computer and analyzed by SPSS soft ware after collection. The T student، Chi square and Roc Curve tests were used for data analysis. According to results of our study، sensitivity، specificity، positive and negative predictive values for diagnose of preterm labor at cut of point 22. 5ng/ml were estimated as 78. 3%، 83%، 67. 5% and 89. 4% respectively. Results show that there is a relationship between serum ferritin and preterm deliveries and according to sensitivity، specifity، positive and negative predictive value of serum ferritin، we can use this test for prediction of preterm birth.