Uterine cervix elastography

pre-term delivery prevention

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Preventing pre-term delivery is a challenge to be overcome. Many sonographic markers have been used for this purpose. Elastography seems to be a promising technique in evaluating the consistency of the uterine cervix. This work consisted of reviewing literature about using elastography in preventing pre-term delivery. METHODS: In order to search for the works in this review, the BIREME advanced research data base was used. The words used were elastography and preterm delivery. RESULTS: The studies that were found showed that elastography may be an objective test in order to select pregnant women with high and low risk of PPTE. The techinique may be applied based on the bio-mechanical properties of the cervix. It has good reproducibility and it is an interesting object of future studies in preventing PPTE, helping the clinical managing and reduction of PPTE. CONCLUSION: The elastography of the uterine cervix seems to be a promising technique to be used together with the length measurement of the uterine cervix and additional markers in preventing PPTE. Future studies involving elastography and correlated with other PPTE markers should be carried out.