Observational studyBJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology2021
Second-trimester transvaginal ultrasound measurement of cervical length for prediction of preterm birth: a blinded prospective multicentre diagnostic accuracy study.
Observational study in BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Can universal cervical length screening with vaginal progesterone for a short cervix reduce preterm birth? A systematic review and meta-analyses.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2026Pooled it
- First-trimester cervical length screening and the risk of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Association between cervical length and gestational age at birth in singleton pregnancies: a multicentric prospective cohort study in the Brazilian population.Reproductive health · 2023Trial
- Universal cervical-length screening to prevent preterm birth in twin pregnancy: cost-utility analysis.Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2025Article
- Article
- Alterations in vaginal microbiome in women with short cervix: longitudinal study of microbial diversity and impact of vaginal progesterone treatment.Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2025Article
- Immunophenotyping and Activation Status of Maternal Lymphocytes to Predict Spontaneous Preterm Birth in Women With Threatened Preterm Labor: A Prospective Observational Study.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2024Observational
- Building a machine learning-based risk prediction model for second-trimester miscarriage.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Association between miRNAs in serum at 10-14 gestational weeks and spontaneous preterm delivery.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Prediction of preterm birth at St. Mary's Hospital Lacor, Northern Uganda: a prospective cohort study.African health sciences · 2024Article
- Predictive values of cervix length measurement based on transvaginal ultrasonography.Technology and health care : official journal of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine · 2024Article
- Assessment of current biomarkers and interventions to identify and treat women at risk of preterm birth.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Review
- Early prediction of spontaneous preterm birth before 34 gestational weeks based on a combination of inflammation-associated plasma proteins.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Article
- Progesterone, cerclage, pessary, or acetylsalicylic acid for prevention of preterm birth in singleton and multifetal pregnancies - A systematic review and meta-analyses.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
- Microbial and human transcriptome in vaginal fluid at midgestation: Association with spontaneous preterm delivery.Clinical and translational medicine · 2022Article
- Cost-effectiveness of cervical length screening and progesterone treatment to prevent spontaneous preterm delivery in Sweden.Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2022Article
- A force-measuring device combined with ultrasound-based elastography for assessment of the uterine cervix.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2022Article
- Systematic review and meta-analysis: the effect of bronchopulmonary dysplasia on neurodevelopment in very low birth weight premature infants.Translational pediatrics · 2021Article
- Early pregnancy prediction of spontaneous preterm birth before 32 completed weeks of pregnancy using plasma RNA: transcriptome discovery and initial validation of an RNA panel of markers.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo estimate the diagnostic performance of sonographic cervical length for the prediction of preterm birth (PTB).
designProspective observational multicentre study.
settingSeven Swedish ultrasound centres. SAMPLE: A cohort of 11 456 asymptomatic women with a singleton pregnancy.
methodsCervical length was measured with transvaginal ultrasound at 18-20 weeks of gestation (C×1) and at 21-23 weeks of gestation (C×2, optional). Staff and participants were blinded to results.
main outcome measuresArea under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR-), number of false-positive results per true-positive result (FP/TP), number needed to screen to detect one PTB (NNS) and prevalence of 'short' cervix.
resultsSpontaneous PTB (sPTB) at <33 weeks of gestation occurred in 56/11 072 (0.5%) women in the C×1 population (89% white) and in 26/6288 (0.4%) in the C×2 population (92% white). The discriminative ability of shortest endocervical length was better the earlier the sPTB occurred and was better at C×2 than at C×1 (AUC to predict sPTB at <33 weeks of gestation 0.76 versus 0.65, difference in AUC 0.11, 95% CI 0.01-0.23). At C×2, the shortest endocervical length of ≤25 mm (prevalence 4.4%) predicted sPTB at <33 weeks of gestation with sensitivity 38.5% (10/26), specificity 95.8% (5998/6262), PPV 3.6% (10/274), NPV 99.7% (5988/6014), LR+ 9.1, LR- 0.64, FP/TP 26 and NNS 629.
conclusionsSecond-trimester sonographic cervical length can identify women at high risk of sPTB. In a population of mainly white women with a low prevalence of sPTB its diagnostic performance is at best moderate. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Cervical length screening to predict preterm birth in a white low-risk population has moderate performance.
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