Etiologically Based Functional Taxonomy of the Preterm Birth Syndrome
- Preterm birth (PTB) can no longer be defined by GA alone since this approach fails to provide any pathophysiologic insights or assessment of specific risks.
- A robust conceptual, functional PTB taxonomy is presented, based upon maternal, placental, fetal/neonatal conditions, and signs of parturition initiation, defining major clinical phenotypes.
- Prenatal assessment of the phenotype should be followed by postnatal confirmation and refinement, if necessary, to complete the classification of each specific case.
- The conceptual model has been validated showing dynamic adaptation to different population risk profiles, confirming its validity, strength, reproducibility and applicability.
- Global implementation of this taxonomy model will favour research on homogeneous subpopulations, facilitating identification of etiologically-specific screening and diagnostic methods, and effective prevention and treatment.
