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© 2022 Marquart et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Objective

Since there are populational differences and risk factors that influence the cervical length, the aim of the study was to construct a populational curve with measurements of the uterine cervix of pregnant women in the second trimester of pregnancy and to evaluate which variables were related to cervical length (CL) ≤25 mm.

Materials and methods

This was a multicenter cross-sectional study performed at 17 hospitals in several regions of Brazil. From 2015 to 2019, transvaginal ultrasound scan was performed in women with singleton pregnancies at 18 0/7 to 22 6/7 weeks of gestation to measure the CL. We analyzed CL regarding its distribution and the risk factors for CL ≤25 mm using logistic regression.

Results

The percentage of CL ≤ 25mm was 6.67%. Shorter cervices, when measured using both straight and curve techniques, showed similar results: range 21.0–25.0 mm in straight versus 22.6–26.0 mm in curve measurement for the 5th percentile. However, the difference between the two techniques became more pronounced after the 75th percentile (range 41.0–42.0 mm straight x 43.6–45.0 mm in curve measurement). The risk factors identified for short cervix were low body mass index (BMI) (OR: 1.81 CI: 1.16–2.82), higher education (OR: 1.39 CI: 1.10–1.75) and personal history ([one prior miscarriage OR: 1.41 CI: 1.11–1.78 and ≥2 prior miscarriages OR: 1.67 CI: 1.24–2.25], preterm birth [OR: 1.70 CI: 1.12–2.59], previous low birth weight <2500 g [OR: 1.70 CI: 1.15–2.50], cervical surgery [OR: 4.33 CI: 2.58–7.27]). By contrast, obesity (OR: 0.64 CI: 0.51–0.82), living with a partner (OR: 0.76 CI: 0.61–0.95) and previous pregnancy (OR: 0.46 CI: 0.37–0.57) decreased the risk of short cervix.

Conclusions

The CL distribution showed a relatively low percentage of cervix ≤25 mm. There may be populational differences in the CL distribution and this as well as the risk factors for short CL need to be considered when adopting a screening strategy for short cervix.

Details

Title
Cervical length distribution among Brazilian pregnant population and risk factors for short cervix: A multicenter cross-sectional study
Author
Kaline Gomes Ferrari Marquart; Silva, Thais Valeria  VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mol, Ben W; José Guilherme Cecatti; Passini, Renato, Jr; Pereira, Cynara M; Guedes, Thaísa B; Fanton, Tatiana F; Pacagnella, Rodolfo C  VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; The P5 working group ¶The Complete Membership of the Author Group can be found in the Acknowledgments
First page
e0272128
Section
Research Article
Publication year
2022
Publication date
Oct 2022
Publisher
Public Library of Science
e-ISSN
19326203
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2722687432
Copyright
© 2022 Marquart et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.