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Fetal Fibronectin Wikipedia

Fetal Fibronectin (fFN) is a protein produced by fetus | fetal cell (biology)|cells. fFN is found at the interface of the chorion and the decidua (between the fetal sack and the uterine lining). It's characterisitics are basically adhesive for most of the pregnancy and it is likely to be the "biological glue" that binds the fetal sack to the uterine lining. Because of this fFN has become an excellent biological marker to indicate likelyhood of premature (preterm) delivery, less than 37 weeks gestation.

Fetal Fibronectin will "leak" into the vagina if a preterm delivery is likely to occur. fFN can be measured in a diagnostic test available in many hospital and clinical laboratories around the world. When the fFN test is positive, there is need for increased attention and care. When the fFN test is negative, it means that there is little if any danger to the pregnancy at least for a mimimum of two weeks. The test is easily performed. A specimen is collected from the patient using a vaginal swab. The swab is placed in a transport tube and sent to the lab for testing. The lab can easily produce a test result in less than one hour.

There are over 120 peer reviewed Clinical trial | clinical studies that show the utility of Fetal Fibronectin. Over 1400 hospitals in the USA routinely provide fFN test service for their obstetric staff. The fFN test is approved be the FDA for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The test may be run on patients between 22 and 35 weeks gestation.

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Category:Obstetrics

Last Modified:   2005-12-23