[Comparative studies of the uterine cervix in pregnancy using palpation and vaginal sonography]

Abstract

Ultrasonography and manual palpation were used to evaluate the uterine cervix of 71 pregnant women between 14th and 36th week of gestational age. The sonographic length of the uterine cervix was about 4.2 cm according to the relevant cervix palpation (Group I), about 3.2 cm in the moderately shortened cervix (Group II) and about 2.8 cm in the severely shortened cervix (Group III). The distance between the surface of the ectocervix to the urinary bladder corresponded to the cervical palpation showing a constant difference of about 0.5 cm. No difference could be found in the width of the upper cervix. The index was determined as ratio of the sonographically ascertained cervical length and width of the supravaginal cervix. A value of 0.8 or lower describes a cervical incompetence of a higher degree and signifies an unfavourable prognosis. The evaluation of cervical incompetence and the relevance of the sonographically detected opened internal os have not yet been clarified. A hitherto unsolved problem is the dilatation of the cervical canal in case of immature palpatory findings with traumatic anamnesis.