Results (
Thai) 2:
[Copy]Copied!
Convincing data have shown that
2-dimensional (2D) ultrasound measurement
of cervical length (CL) can
identify women at risk for PTB.3 Accordingly,
CL is now widely used in clinical
practice for risk estimation.4 However,
as understanding of the mechanisms of
preterm labor (PTL) have evolved, obstetricians
have learned that, in some
women, cervical shortening is a phenomenon
that carries no increased risk
for prematurity. Therefore, the search
for early and accurate markers that distinguish
between physiologic processes
and abnormal activation of the
labor cascade has been ongoing.
There is evidence to support the view
that activation of the fetal hypothalamicpituitary-
adrenal axis, and the cross talk
between a variety of placental and fetal
adrenal gland endocrine signaling pathways
play an important role in initiation
of the normal parturition process.5 Biochemical
activation causes increased dehydroepinadrosterone-
sulfate production
in the central zone of the fetal
adrenal gland (fetal zone). Accordingly
the whole fetal adrenal gland increases in
size and this increase is predominantly
due to significant enlargement of the
central fetal zone.6
Being translated, please wait..
