Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2): An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis.

<h4>Background</h4>Preterm-labour-associated preterm birth is a common cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity in twin pregnancy. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the Arabin pessary would reduce preterm-labour-associated preterm birth by 40% or greater in women with a twin pregnan...

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Main Authors: Jane E Norman, John Norrie, Graeme MacLennan, David Cooper, Sonia Whyte, Sue Chowdhry, Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Xue W Mei, Joel B E Smith, Andrew Shennan, Stephen C Robson, Steven Thornton, Mark D Kilby, Neil Marlow, Sarah J Stock, Phillip R Bennett, Jane Denton, STOPPIT-2 collaborative group
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-03-01
Series:PLoS Medicine
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003506
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author Jane E Norman
John Norrie
Graeme MacLennan
David Cooper
Sonia Whyte
Sue Chowdhry
Sarah Cunningham-Burley
Xue W Mei
Joel B E Smith
Andrew Shennan
Stephen C Robson
Steven Thornton
Mark D Kilby
Neil Marlow
Sarah J Stock
Phillip R Bennett
Jane Denton
STOPPIT-2 collaborative group
author_facet Jane E Norman
John Norrie
Graeme MacLennan
David Cooper
Sonia Whyte
Sue Chowdhry
Sarah Cunningham-Burley
Xue W Mei
Joel B E Smith
Andrew Shennan
Stephen C Robson
Steven Thornton
Mark D Kilby
Neil Marlow
Sarah J Stock
Phillip R Bennett
Jane Denton
STOPPIT-2 collaborative group
author_sort Jane E Norman
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Preterm-labour-associated preterm birth is a common cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity in twin pregnancy. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the Arabin pessary would reduce preterm-labour-associated preterm birth by 40% or greater in women with a twin pregnancy and a short cervix.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>We conducted an open-label randomised controlled trial in 57 hospital antenatal clinics in the UK and Europe. From 1 April 2015 to 14 February 2019, 2,228 women with a twin pregnancy underwent cervical length screening between 18 weeks 0 days and 20 weeks 6 days of gestation. In total, 503 women with cervical length ≤ 35 mm were randomly assigned to pessary in addition to standard care (n = 250, mean age 32.4 years, mean cervical length 29 mm, with pessary inserted in 230 women [92.0%]) or standard care alone (n = 253, mean age 32.7 years, mean cervical length 30 mm). The pessary was inserted before 21 completed weeks of gestation and removed at between 35 and 36 weeks or before birth if earlier. The primary obstetric outcome, spontaneous onset of labour and birth before 34 weeks 0 days of gestation, was present in 46/250 (18.4%) in the pessary group compared to 52/253 (20.6%) following standard care alone (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.87 [95% CI 0.55-1.38], p = 0.54). The primary neonatal outcome-a composite of any of stillbirth, neonatal death, periventricular leukomalacia, early respiratory morbidity, intraventricular haemorrhage, necrotising enterocolitis, or proven sepsis, from birth to 28 days after the expected date of delivery-was present in 67/500 infants (13.4%) in the pessary group compared to 76/506 (15.0%) following standard care alone (aOR 0.86 [95% CI 0.54-1.36], p = 0.50). The positive and negative likelihood ratios of a short cervix (≤35 mm) to predict preterm birth before 34 weeks were 2.14 and 0.83, respectively. A meta-analysis of data from existing publications (4 studies, 313 women) and from STOPPIT-2 indicated that a cervical pessary does not reduce preterm birth before 34 weeks in women with a short cervix (risk ratio 0.74 [95% CI 0.50-1.11], p = 0.15). No women died in either arm of the study; 4.4% of babies in the Arabin pessary group and 5.5% of babies in the standard treatment group died in utero or in the neonatal period (p = 0.53). Study limitations include lack of power to exclude a smaller than 40% reduction in preterm labour associated preterm birth, and to be conclusive about subgroup analyses.<h4>Conclusions</h4>These results led us to reject our hypothesis that the Arabin pessary would reduce the risk of the primary outcome by 40%. Smaller treatment effects cannot be ruled out.<h4>Trial registration</h4>ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN 02235181. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02235181.
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spelling doaj-art-0764ca5fc50145be9b6bece6b06d4e4c2025-08-20T02:31:15ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Medicine1549-12771549-16762021-03-01183e100350610.1371/journal.pmed.1003506Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2): An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis.Jane E NormanJohn NorrieGraeme MacLennanDavid CooperSonia WhyteSue ChowdhrySarah Cunningham-BurleyXue W MeiJoel B E SmithAndrew ShennanStephen C RobsonSteven ThorntonMark D KilbyNeil MarlowSarah J StockPhillip R BennettJane DentonSTOPPIT-2 collaborative group<h4>Background</h4>Preterm-labour-associated preterm birth is a common cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity in twin pregnancy. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the Arabin pessary would reduce preterm-labour-associated preterm birth by 40% or greater in women with a twin pregnancy and a short cervix.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>We conducted an open-label randomised controlled trial in 57 hospital antenatal clinics in the UK and Europe. From 1 April 2015 to 14 February 2019, 2,228 women with a twin pregnancy underwent cervical length screening between 18 weeks 0 days and 20 weeks 6 days of gestation. In total, 503 women with cervical length ≤ 35 mm were randomly assigned to pessary in addition to standard care (n = 250, mean age 32.4 years, mean cervical length 29 mm, with pessary inserted in 230 women [92.0%]) or standard care alone (n = 253, mean age 32.7 years, mean cervical length 30 mm). The pessary was inserted before 21 completed weeks of gestation and removed at between 35 and 36 weeks or before birth if earlier. The primary obstetric outcome, spontaneous onset of labour and birth before 34 weeks 0 days of gestation, was present in 46/250 (18.4%) in the pessary group compared to 52/253 (20.6%) following standard care alone (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.87 [95% CI 0.55-1.38], p = 0.54). The primary neonatal outcome-a composite of any of stillbirth, neonatal death, periventricular leukomalacia, early respiratory morbidity, intraventricular haemorrhage, necrotising enterocolitis, or proven sepsis, from birth to 28 days after the expected date of delivery-was present in 67/500 infants (13.4%) in the pessary group compared to 76/506 (15.0%) following standard care alone (aOR 0.86 [95% CI 0.54-1.36], p = 0.50). The positive and negative likelihood ratios of a short cervix (≤35 mm) to predict preterm birth before 34 weeks were 2.14 and 0.83, respectively. A meta-analysis of data from existing publications (4 studies, 313 women) and from STOPPIT-2 indicated that a cervical pessary does not reduce preterm birth before 34 weeks in women with a short cervix (risk ratio 0.74 [95% CI 0.50-1.11], p = 0.15). No women died in either arm of the study; 4.4% of babies in the Arabin pessary group and 5.5% of babies in the standard treatment group died in utero or in the neonatal period (p = 0.53). Study limitations include lack of power to exclude a smaller than 40% reduction in preterm labour associated preterm birth, and to be conclusive about subgroup analyses.<h4>Conclusions</h4>These results led us to reject our hypothesis that the Arabin pessary would reduce the risk of the primary outcome by 40%. Smaller treatment effects cannot be ruled out.<h4>Trial registration</h4>ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN 02235181. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02235181.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003506
spellingShingle Jane E Norman
John Norrie
Graeme MacLennan
David Cooper
Sonia Whyte
Sue Chowdhry
Sarah Cunningham-Burley
Xue W Mei
Joel B E Smith
Andrew Shennan
Stephen C Robson
Steven Thornton
Mark D Kilby
Neil Marlow
Sarah J Stock
Phillip R Bennett
Jane Denton
STOPPIT-2 collaborative group
Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2): An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis.
PLoS Medicine
title Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2): An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis.
title_full Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2): An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis.
title_fullStr Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2): An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis.
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2): An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis.
title_short Evaluation of the Arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix (STOPPIT-2): An open-label randomised trial and updated meta-analysis.
title_sort evaluation of the arabin cervical pessary for prevention of preterm birth in women with a twin pregnancy and short cervix stoppit 2 an open label randomised trial and updated meta analysis
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003506
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