Preterm birth: incidence, risk factors and second trimester cervical length in a single center population. A two-year retrospective study

To report the incidence and the major risk factors (RFs) associated with preterm birth (PTB), combining both maternal RFs and cervical length (CL), and to understand if cervical length measurement is really useful in all the patients.The study population consisted of 2048 women admitted to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of Messina, over a 2-year period. Preterm cases represented approximately 8.64% of our total population and, exactly, 65% were late preterm, 32% were preterm, and 3% were extremely preterm.An analysis of PTB sub-categories based on gestational age showed a stronger correlation between gestational age and CL among preterm and extremely preter…