Abstract
During the past few years a clear relationship has been established between decreased cervical length and risk of spontaneous preterm delivery. In this review, the most recent publications are described, and results are compared with those of the present authors regarding the prevention of preterm labor in both asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. Cervical assessment with ultrasound is now widely accepted and a well standardized method which can be easily performed in both high- and low-risk patients as a screening test for preterm delivery. It is the authors' belief that, for an evaluation of the cervix, all that is required is a well trained operator and a few minutes.
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