Use of the fetal fibronectin test in decisions to admit to hospital for preterm labor.

electrophoresis, which has a reported sensitivity of 91% in diagnosing CSF leakage (4 ). For the automated assay from Dade Behring, a range of 0.22–1.69 mg/L for healthy individuals was reported, and a cutoff at 1.31 mg/L (97.5 percentile) was proposed (9 ). At concentrations between 1.31 and 1.69 mg/L, however, there is overlap of individuals without and patients with CSF leakage (9 ). In our study, -trace protein measured without predilution was 1 mg/L in individuals without CSF leakage. In the earlier study, nasal fluids were partly prediluted 1:100. At a cutoff of 1 mg/L, the Dade Behring assay had a 100% sensitivity (78–100%; P 0.05) and specificity (86–100%; P 0.05) for diagnosing a CSF leakage. Thus, in our opinion the nephelometric quantification of -trace protein is preferable, particularly because this method is less timeconsuming and labor-intensive than the electrophoretic method.