Fetal fibronectin test

Last revised by David Luong on 18 Jun 2021

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Radswiki T, Luong D, Sandhyala A, Fetal fibronectin test. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-14747

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-14747

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/14747

rID:

14747

Article created:

25 Aug 2011, The Radswiki ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created The Radswiki had no recorded disclosures.

View The Radswiki's current disclosures

Last revised:

18 Jun 2021, David Luong ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised David Luong had no recorded disclosures.

View David Luong's current disclosures

Revisions:

2 times, by 2 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Obstetrics

Tags:

stub

Synonyms:

Fetal fibronectin (ffn) test
Fetal fibronectin test (fFN)
fFN

The fetal fibronectin test (fFN) is a test that can be perfomed on a vaginal swab to estimate the risk of preterm labor.

Pathology

fFN is found at the interface of the chorion and the decidua (between the fetal sack and the uterine lining). It can be thought of as an adhesive or "biological glue" that binds the fetal sac to the uterine lining.

While a negative test is generally useful to rule out preterm labor (high negative predictive value), a positive test is not useful to predict the likelihood (low positive predictive value).