ArticleThe journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians2012
Transabdominal evaluation of uterine cervical length during pregnancy fails to identify a substantial number of women with a short cervix.
Article in The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05044143 (Serial Cervical Length Measurements After the 1st Episode of Threatened Preterm Labor to Improve Prediction of Spontaneous Preterm Delivery), which is not on this map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Serial Cervical Length Measurements After the 1st Episode of Threatened Preterm Labor to Improve Prediction of Spontaneous Preterm Delivery: Prospective Cohort Study
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cervical assessment by ultrasound for preventing preterm delivery.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Cervical assessment by ultrasound for preventing preterm delivery.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Cervical length assessment using magnetic resonance imaging during pregnancy: correlation and agreement with transvaginal ultrasound.Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2026Article
- Comparing transabdominal and transvaginal cervical length measurements at mid-trimester fetal anomaly scan: The impact of bladder fullness and lower uterine contractions.Australasian journal of ultrasound in medicine · 2024Article
- Preterm Birth: Screening and Prediction.International journal of women's health · 2023Review
- Prediction of labour onset in women who present with symptoms of preterm labour using cervical length.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Article
- Cervical Assessment for Predicting Preterm Birth-Cervical Length and Beyond.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- Uterine Cervical Change at Term Examined Using Ultrasound Elastography: A Longitudinal Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Current Approaches to Risk Assessment and Prevention of Preterm Birth-A Continuing Public Health Crisis.Ochsner journal · 2020Review
- HIV serostatus, viral load, and midtrimester cervical length in a Zambian prenatal cohort.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2019Article
- Combined Ultrasound and Cone Beam CT Improves Target Segmentation for Image Guided Radiation Therapy in Uterine Cervix Cancer.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2019Article
- Screening for spontaneous preterm birth and resultant therapies to reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality: A review.Seminars in fetal & neonatal medicine · 2018Review
- Assessment of Length of Maternal Cervix between 18 and 24 weeks of Gestation in a Low-Risk Brazilian Population.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2017Article
- Article
- Reference Ranges for Ultrasonographic Measurements of the Uterine Cervix in Low-Risk Pregnant Women.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2017Article
- Can Transabdominal Scan Predict a Short Cervix by Transvaginal Scan?Obstetrics and gynecology international · 2017Article
- Short cervix detection in pregnant women by transabdominal sonography with post-void technique.Journal of medical ultrasonics (2001) · 2016Article
- A comparison of ultrasonic measurement techniques for the maternal cervix in the second trimester.Australasian journal of ultrasound in medicine · 2015Article
- Cervical length measurement: Comparison of transabdominal and transvaginal approach.Australasian journal of ultrasound in medicine · 2015Article
- Reference range of the weekly uterine cervical length at 8 to 38 weeks of gestation in the center of Iran.Advanced biomedical research · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the diagnostic performance of transabdominal sonographic measurement of cervical length in identifying patients with a short cervix.
methodsCervical length was measured in 220 pregnant women using transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound (US). Reproducibility and agreement between and within both methods were assessed. The diagnostic accuracy of transabdominal US for identifying cases with a cervical length <25 mm was evaluated.
resultsTwenty-one out of 220 cases (9.5%) had a cervical length <25 mm by transvaginal US. Only 43% (n = 9) of patients with a short cervix were correctly identified by transabdominal US. In patients with a cervical length of <25 mm by transvaginal US, transabdominal measurement of the cervix overestimated this parameter by an average of 8 mm (95% LOAs, -26.4 to 10.5 mm). Among women without a short cervix, transabdominal US underestimated cervical length on average (LOA) by 1.1 mm (95% LOAs, -11.0 to 13.2 mm). Transvaginal US was also more reproducible (intraclass correlation coefficient: (ICC) (0.96; 95% CI, 0.94 to 0.97) based on comparisons between 2D images and immediately acquired 3D volume datasets relative to transabdominal US (ICC: 0.71; 95% CI, 0.57 to 0.84). Transvaginal US detected 13 cases with funneling and six cases with sludge whereas only three cases of funneling and one of sludge were detected by transabdominal US.
conclusionTransabdominal measurement overestimated cervical LOA by 8 mm among women with a short cervix and resulted in the underdiagnosis of 57% of cases.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.