Uniform international method to measure cervical length; are we there yet?

Introduction: Cervical length is an important predictor of spontaneous preterm birth. So far, the best way to measure cervical length has not been established. We aimed to compare the incidence of short cervical length between three methods of cervical length measurement with and without inclusion of cervico-isthmic complex (CIC) (six methods in total) and to determine the positive predictive value for spontaneous preterm birth. Material and methods: We performed a prospective single center cohort study in women with a singleton pregnancy between August 2014 and December 2018. During the routine fetal anomaly scan (18-22 weeks), women were offered transvaginal ultrasound for cervical length measurement to screen for the risk of spontaneous preterm birth. Each cervix was measured in six different ways: single-line, two-line and tracing method between the internal and external os of the cervix with and without CIC. We evaluated the predictive value of the different measurements for spontaneous delivery before 37 weeks using positive predictive values. Results: Our final study population comprised 1,691 women. The overall rate of preterm birth 8 mm between the techniques (41.04 mm (SD 7.1) with one-line without CIC and 49.18 (SD 9.05) mm with trace with CIC) with an incidence of short cervical length below
Source: Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy - Category: Perinatology & Neonatology Source Type: research