Beyond cervical length: Emerging technologies for assessing the pregnant cervix

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Volumn 207, Issue 5, 2012, Pages 345-354

  Feltovich, Helen ^a,b,c   Hall, Timothy J ^b   Berghella, Vincenzo ^d  

^a UTAH VALLEY REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON   (United States)

^d THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

microstructural assessment; preterm birth; quantitative ultrasound measurement; short cervix

Indexed keywords

BIRTH RATE; CERVICAL LENGTH MEASUREMENT; CLINICAL ASSESSMENT; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY; ECHOGRAPHY; ELASTICITY; ELASTOGRAPHY; FLUORESCENCE; GESTATIONAL AGE; HISTOGRAM; HUMAN; IMPEDANCE; MICROSCOPY; NONHUMAN; NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; PREDICTION; PREGNANCY; PREMATURITY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; RAMAN SPECTROMETRY; REVIEW; SECOND HARMONIC GENERATION; SPONTANEOUS PRETERM BIRTH; SURFACE PROPERTY;

ANIMALS; CERVICAL LENGTH MEASUREMENT; CERVIX UTERI; ELASTICITY IMAGING TECHNIQUES; ELECTRIC IMPEDANCE; FEMALE; HUMANS; MICE; PREGNANCY; PREMATURE BIRTH; RATS;

EID: 84868103602     PISSN: 00029378     EISSN: 10976868     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2012.05.015     Document Type: Review

References (47)

1. WHO systematic review on maternal mortality and morbidity: the global burden of preterm birth Bull World Health Org 88 2010 31 38
2. C.Y. Spong Prediction and prevention of recurrent spontaneous preterm birth Obstet Gynecol 110 2007 405 415 (Pubitemid 47356668)
3. M.G. Gravett, C.E. Rubens, T.M. Nunes Global report on preterm birth and stillbirth (2 of 7): discovery science BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 10 suppl 2010 S2
4. R. Romero Vaginal progesterone to reduce the rate of preterm birth and neonatal morbidity: a solution at last Womens Health (Lond Engl) 7 2011 501 504
5. L. Muglia, M. Katz The enigma of spontaneous preterm birth N Engl J Med 362 2010 529 535
6. R. Menon, A.L. Dunlop, M.R. Kramer, S.J. Fortunato, C.J. Hogue An overview of racial disparities in preterm birth rates: caused by infection or inflammatory response? Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 90 2011 1325 1331
7. R. Romero, F. Gotsch, B. Pineles, J.P. Kusanovic Inflammation in pregnancy: its roles in reproductive physiology, obstetrical complications, and fetal injury Nutr Rev 65 2007 S194 S202
8. R. Menon, M.R. Torloni, C. Voltolini Biomarkers of spontaneous preterm birth: an overview of the literature in the last four decades Reprod Sci 18 2011 1046
9. S. Gracie, C. Pennell, G. Ekman-Ordeberg An integrated systems biology approach to the study of preterm birth using "-omic" technology; a guideline for research BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 11 2011 71
10. V. Berghella, T.J. Rafael, J.M. Szychowski, O.A. Rust, J. Owen Cerclage for short cervix on ultrasonography in women with singleton gestations and previous preterm birth: a meta-analysis Obstet Gynecol 117 2011 663 671
11. W. Grobman Randomized controlled trial of progesterone treatment for preterm birth prevention in nulliparous women with cervical length less than 30 mm Am J Obstet Gynecol 206 suppl 2012 S367
12. S.S. Hassan, R. Romero, D. Vidyadhan Vaginal progesterone reduces the rate of preterm birth in women with a sonographic short cervix: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 38 2011 18 31
13. F. Facchinetti, S. Paganelli, G. Cornitini, G. Dante, A. Volpe Cervical length changes during preterm cervical ripening: effects of 17-alpha- hydroxyprogesterone caproate Am J Obstet Gynecol 196 2007 453.e1 453.e4
14. J.M. O'Brien, E.A. Defranco, C.D. Adair Effect of progesterone on cervical shortening in women at risk for preterm birth: secondary analysis from a multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 34 2009 653 659
15. R.J. Kuon, S.-Q. Shi, H. Maul Pharmacologic actions of progestins to inhibit cervical ripening and prevent delivery depend on their properties, the route of administration, and the vehicle Am J Obstet Gynecol 202 2010 455.e1 455.e9
16. C.P. Durnwald, C.D. Lynch, H. Walker, J.D. Iams The effect of treatment with 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate on changes in cervical length over time Am J Obstet Gynecol 201 2009 410.e1 410.e5
17. A. Kenyon, J. Braschi, F. Forya, D. Peebles, A. David Cervical length mid trimester in low risk women fails to predict the majority of pre-term birth Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 96 Suppl 1 2011 Fa128
18. B. Timmons, M. Akins, M. Mahendroo Cervical remodeling during pregnancy and parturition Trends Endocrin Metabolism 21 2010 353 361
19. M.L. Akins, K. Luby-Phelps, M. Mahendroo Second harmonic generation imaging as a potential tool for staging pregnancy and predicting preterm birth J Biomed Opt 15 2010 039802
20. S. Hassan, R. Romero, A.L. Tarca The molecular basis of sonographic cervical shortening at term: identification of differentially expressed genes and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition as a function of cervical length Am J Obstet Gynecol 203 2010 472.e1 472.e14
21. C.P. Read, R.A. Word, M.A. Ruscheinsky Cervical remodeling during pregnancy and parturition: molecular characterization of the softening phase in mice Reproduction 134 2007 327 340 (Pubitemid 47278805)
22. R.A. Word, X.H. Li, M. Hnat, K. Carrick Dynamics of cervical remodeling during pregnancy and parturition: mechanisms and current concepts Semin Reprod Med 25 2007 69 79 (Pubitemid 46147846)
23. D. Danforth The morphology of the human cervix Clin Obstet Gynecol 26 1983 7 13 (Pubitemid 13086243)
24. M. Mahendroo, A. Porter, D. Russell, A. Word The parturition defect in steroid 5-alpha-reductase type I knockout mice is due to impaired cervical ripening Mol Endocrinol 13 1995 981 992 (Pubitemid 30645315)
25. T. Rechberg, S.R. Abramson, J.F. Woessner Onapristone and prostaglandin E(2) induction of delivery in the rat pregnancy: a model for the analysis of cervical softening Am J Obstet Gynecol 175 1996 719 723
26. R.J. Kuon, S.-Q. Shi, H. Maul A novel optical method to assess cervical changes during pregnancy and use to evaluate the effects of progestins on term and preterm labor Am J Obstet Gynecol 205 2011 82.e15 82.e20
27. M. Predanic Evaluation of a device for objective determination of cervical consistency: a pilot study of device's validity on uterine specimens obtained by total hysterectomy for benign uterine disease J Perinat Med 30 2002 364 366 (Pubitemid 35252791)
28. M.P. O'Connell, J. Tidy, S.J. Wisher, N.J. Avis, B.H. Brown, S.W. Lindow An in vivo comparative study of the pregnant and nonpregnant cervix using electrical impedance measurements BJOG 107 2000 1040 1041 (Pubitemid 30495463)
29. R. Jokhi, B. Brown, A. Do The role of cervical electrical impedance spectroscopy in the prediction of the course and outcome of induced labour BMJ Pregnancy Childbirth 9 2009 40
30. B.L. McFarlin, T.A. Bigelow, Y. Laybed, W.D. O'Brien, M.L. Oelze, J.S. Abramowicz Ultrasonic attenuation estimation of the pregnant cervix: a preliminary report Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 36 2010 218 225
31. M. Parra-Saavedra, L. Gomez, A. Barrero, G. Parra, F. Vergara, E. Navarro Prediction of preterm birth using the cervical consistency index Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 38 2011 44 51
32. B.M. de Tejada, D.L. Faltin, K. Kinkel, M.J. Guittier, M. Boulvain, O. Irion Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervix in women at high risk for preterm delivery J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 24 2011 1392 1397
33. N. Afzali, M. Mohajeri, A. Malek, A. Almatian Cervical gland area: a new sonographic marker in predicting preterm delivery Arch Gynecol Obstet 285 2012 255 258
34. H. Maul, G. Olson, C.T. Fittkow, G.R. Saade, R.E. Garfield Cervical light-induced fluorescence in humans decreases throughout gestation and before delivery: preliminary observations Am J Obstet Gynecol 188 2003 537 541 (Pubitemid 36249998)
35. C.T. Fittkow, H. Maul, G. Olson Light-induced fluorescence of the human cervix decreases after prostaglandin application for induction of labor at term Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 123 2005 62 66 (Pubitemid 41563095)
36. R. Maul, G. Saade, R. Garfield Prediction of term and preterm parturition and treatment monitoring by measurement of cervical cross-linked collagen using light-induced fluorescence Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 84 2005 534 536 (Pubitemid 40756421)
37. D. Schlembach, L. Mackay, L. Shi, W.L. Maner, R.E. Garfield, H. Maul Cervical ripening and insufficiency: from biochemical and molecular studies to in vivo clinical examination Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 144S 2009 S70 S76
38. Vargis E, Webb CN, Paria BC, et al. Detecting changes during pregnancy with Raman spectroscopy. Proceedings of the 2011 Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Conference: Image Informatics and Analytics in Biomedicine, Knoxville, TN, March 15-17, 2011.
39. H. Feltovich, K. Nam, T.J. Hall Quantitative ultrasound assessment of cervical microstructure Ultrason Imaging 32 2010 131 142
40. T. Kuwata, S. Matsubara, N. Taniguchi, A. Ohkuchi, T. Ohkusa, M. Suzuki A novel method for evaluating uterine cervical consistency using vaginal ultrasound gray-level histogram J Perinat Med 38 2010 491 494
41. M. Swiatkowska-Freund, K. Preis Elastography of the uterine cervix: implications for success of induction of labor Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 38 2011 52 56
42. F.S. Molina, L.F. Gomez, J. Florido, M.C. Padilla, K.H. Nicolaides Quantification of cervical elastography: a reproducibility study Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 39 2012 685 689
43. M. Bauer, E. Mazza, A. Nava In vivo characterization of the mechanics of human uterine cervices Ann NY Acad Sci 1101 2007 186 202 (Pubitemid 47092698)
44. E. Mazza, A. Nava, M. Bauer, R. Winter, M. Bajika, G.A. Holzapfel Mechanical properties of the human uterine cervix: an in vivo study Med Image Anal 10 2006 125 136 (Pubitemid 43174969)
45. M. Bauer, E. Mazza, M. Jabareen Assessment of the in vivo biomechanical properties of the human uterine cervix in pregnancy using the aspiration test: a feasibility study Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 144S 2009 S77 S81
46. Reusch LM, Anderson JJ, Carlson LC, et al. Detecting cervical microstructure via ultrasound and optical microscopy. Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium, San Diego, CA, Oct. 11-14, 2011.
47. Reusch LM, Palmeri MA, Dahl J, Feltovich H, Hall TJ. Comparison of ultrasonic measurements of nulliparous vs multiparous cervices. 2011 IEEE Ultrason Symp Proc (in press).