Reference data representative of normal findings at three‐dimensional power Doppler ultrasound examination of the cervix from 17 to 41 gestational weeks

Abstract

Objectives To develop normal reference ranges for cervical volume and vascular indices using threedimensional (3D) power [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] P < 0.0001; median VFI 1.6 vs. 0.9, P < 0.0001

Cervical Parameters and Preterm Labour

“…Vaginal ultrasonography produces good images and is well accepted by patients. There are no apparent risks associated with the examination [53][54][55][56]. In contrast, transvaginal ultrasonography is a reproducible method of examination during pregnancy.…”

“…The length of the cervix is directly correlated with the duration of pregnancy: the shorter the cervix, the greater the likelihood of preterm delivery. This is mainly because uterine contractions, whether perceived by the woman or not, shorten the cervix [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. [61].…”

“…This could be due to the sample size or due to the difficulty of estimating cervical volume. Since one of the methodological difficulties when estimating cervical volume and vascularity using 3D ultrasound is defining landmarks when drawing the contours of the cervix [53,[56][57][58][59][64][65][66].The delineation between the cervix and the lower uterine segment is particularly difficult, especially early in pregnancy and at mid-gestation when the lower uterine segment is thick and the cervix often curved. It may also be difficult to clearly separate the cervix from the surrounding vaginal tissue [53, 56-59, 64, 66].…”

Three‐dimensional ultrasound assessment of the cervix for predicting time to spontaneous onset of labor and time to delivery in prolonged pregnancy

“…Transvaginal sonography was carried out by a single operator (L.R.) using the same technique as described in detail elsewhere 12,13 . The equipment used was a GE Voluson 730 Expert ultrasound system (GE Healthcare, Zipf, Austria) equipped with a 2.8-10-MHz transvaginal transducer.…”

“…Cervical volume (cm 3 ) and power Doppler flow indices, i.e. vascularization index (VI), flow index (FI) and vascularization flow index (VFI), were calculated using the Virtual Organ Computeraided AnaLysis software (VOCAL TM ) 12,13 . All ultrasound results were unavailable to the clinical staff.…”