title: Maternal postural challenge as a functional test for cervical incompetence.
abstract: We studied the effect of an upright maternal position on the cervix. Of 41 high risk patients (17 to 33 weeks' gestational age), 14 of 16 who had a greater than 33% decrease in cervical length in the upright position compared to supine position delivered their infants prematurely, compared to 1 of 25 patients who had a decrease of less than 33% (P < 0.0005). No change in the cervical length was noted in 24 low-risk patients, all of whom were delivered at term. When the finding of a cervical length of less than 2 cm was combined with a postural change, the sensitivity for prediction of preterm delivery was 100%. We conclude that for patients at high risk for incompetent cervix, maternal posture-related cervical shortening can assist in predicting those who will undergo premature delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ludmir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011187:Posture; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods; D002581:Uterine Cervical Incompetence / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology