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Article
Beyond Cervical Length: A Pilot Study of Ultrasonic Attenuation for Early Detection of Preterm Birth Risk
Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology
  • Barbara L. McFarlin, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Viksit Kumar, Iowa State University
  • Timothy A. Bigelow, Iowa State University
  • Douglas G. Simpson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Rosemary C. White-Traut, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Jacques S. Abramowicz, Wayne State University
  • William D. O'Brien, Jr., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Accepted Manuscript
Publication Date
11-1-2015
DOI
10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2015.06.014
Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether cervical ultrasonic attenuation could identify women at risk of spontaneous preterm birth. During pregnancy, women (n = 67) underwent from one to five transvaginal ultrasonic examinations to estimate cervical ultrasonic attenuation and cervical length. Ultrasonic data were obtained with a Zonare ultrasound system with a 5- to 9-MHz endovaginal transducer and processed offline. Cervical ultrasonic attenuation was lower at 17–21 wk of gestation in the SPTB group (1.02 dB/cm-MHz) than in the full-term birth groups (1.34 dB/cm-MHz) (p = 0.04). Cervical length was shorter (3.16 cm) at 22–26 wk in the SPTB group than in the women delivering full term (3.68 cm) (p = 0.004); cervical attenuation was not significantly different at this time point. These findings suggest that low attenuation may be an additional early cervical marker to identify women at risk for SPTB.

Comments

This is a manuscript of the article published as McFarlin, Barbara L., Viksit Kumar, Timothy A. Bigelow, Douglas G. Simpson, Rosemary C. White-Traut, Jacques S. Abramowicz, and William D. O'Brien Jr. "Beyond Cervical Length: A Pilot Study of Ultrasonic Attenuation for Early Detection of Preterm Birth Risk." Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology 41, no. 11 (2015): 3023-3029. DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2015.06.014. Posted with permission.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International
Copyright Owner
World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Barbara L. McFarlin, Viksit Kumar, Timothy A. Bigelow, Douglas G. Simpson, et al.. "Beyond Cervical Length: A Pilot Study of Ultrasonic Attenuation for Early Detection of Preterm Birth Risk" Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology Vol. 41 Iss. 11 (2015) p. 3023 - 3029
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/timothy_bigelow/22/