Fetal salvage with cervical cerclage.

A prospective study to evaluate the fetal salvage rate, cervical morbidity and cesarean section rate in patients with cervical incompetence using a cerclage procedure was conducted at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria. The study group consisted of 71 patients who gave a history suggestive of cervical incompetence, had a dilated cervix at booking and included emergency patients in whom the cervix had dilated because of a febrile illness but had never undergone a cervical cerclage procedure. The fetal salvage rate was 23.7% in pregnancies occurring before and 94.4% after cervical cerclage procedure was performed. There were 57 term pregnancies, 10 pre-term deliveries, and 4 abortions. The study clearly demonstrates the beneficial effects of cervical cerclage operations in patients who have suffered from preventable fetal losses because their incompetent cervix was undiagnosed. Our results were compared with those of other series. The diagnosis of cervical incompetence is discussed with particular emphasis on the use of screening tests in the detection and identification of cervical incompetence.