Clinical and Sonoelasographic Evaluation of the Elasticity of the Uterine Cervix in Pregnant Patients at Term

Softening of the uterine cervix in pregnant patients at term is usually evaluated clinically by subjective vaginal manual examination (Bishop's score).One of the variables of the score is cervical consistency which is considered important factor.The cervical consistency is described as soft,medium or stiff.However, the digital assessment of consistency is subjective and less reproducible.The Bishop's score also gives information about expected duration of labor after induction. The consistency of the uterine cervix can also be evaluated objectively sonoelastographically by measuring the cervical elasticity.This is illustrated by a color map, where low stiffness (soft tissue) is indicated in red, middle stiffness is in green and high stiffness (hard tissue) is in blue.In this study we aim to compare the cervical dilation time between the clinical evaluation of the cervical consistency and the quantitative measurement of the cervical elasticity in pregnant patients at term.