Genetic Associations With Gestational Duration and Spontaneous Preterm Birth

• Published in: Obstetric anesthesia digest Vol. 38; no. 1; p. 36
• Main Authors: Zhang, G., Feenstra, B., Bacelis, J., Liu, X., Muglia, L.M., Juodakis, J., Miller, D.E., Litterman, N., Jiang, P.P., Russell, L., Hinds, D.A., Hu, Y., Weirauch, M.T., Chen, X., Chavan, A.R., Wagner, G.P., Pavličev, M., Nnamani, M.C., Maziarz, J., Karjalainen, M.K., Rämet, M., Sengpiel, V., Geller, F., Boyd, H.A., Palotie, A., Momany, A., Bedell, B., Ryckman, K.K., Huusko, J.M., Forney, C.R., Kottyan, L.C., Hallman, M., Teramo, K., Nohr, E.A., Davey Smith, G., Melbye, M., Jacobsson, B., Muglia, L.J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-03-2018
• ISSN: 0275-665X
• DOI: 10.1097/01.aoa.0000529999.63529.53

(
N Engl J Med
. 2017;377(12):1156–1167)
Preterm birth is the leading cause of death in neonates and children younger than 5 years of age. Its definition, birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation, is a dichotomous trait based on a somewhat arbitrary cutoff of weeks’ gestation, rather than time of birth or a level of fetal maturity. Therefore, in the present study, the authors tested genetic associations with gestational duration (a quantitative trait) and preterm birth (a dichotomous trait), in order to identify robust associations with genetic variants consistent with a role in the timing of birth.