IMR Press / CEOG / Volume 48 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.31083/j.ceog.2021.03.2420
Open Access Original Research
Reliability of shear-wave elastography (SWE) for investigating cervix elastic properties in normal and benign pathological situations
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1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Valme University Hospital, 41014 Seville, Spain
2 Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Biostatistics Unit, University of Seville, 41012 Seville, Spain
3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Seville, 41012 Seville, Spain
*Correspondence: lauracastroportillo@gmail.com (Laura Castro); jagmejido@hotmail.com (Jose Antonio García-Mejido)
Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2021, 48(3), 583–589; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.ceog.2021.03.2420
Submitted: 14 December 2020 | Revised: 5 March 2021 | Accepted: 8 March 2021 | Published: 15 June 2021
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

Background: Our aim in this study is to evaluate the inter- and intraobserver correlation of the different shear-wave elastography (SWE) parameters (stiffness) in both control and pathological groups. Methods: Evaluations of cervical stiffness measurements were performed in 39 non-pregnant patients (21 cases without gynecological pathology and other 18 cases with cervical preinvasive cervical lesion susceptible to conization) aged between 18–65 years old, without vaginal infection other than HPV and without another gynecological pathology. We used SWE (shear modulus) endovaginal ultrasound. We performed the evaluation in the midsagittal plane of the uterine cervix with measurements at 0.5, 1 and 1.5 cm from external cervical OS, in both anterior and posterior cervical lips as well as the cervical canal. Sonoelastography was performed by two examiners, each one making two separate assessments of uterine cervical stiffness using SWE, in one single visit. Interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with 95% CIs were used to assess intra and interobserver measurements repeatability. Results: We obtained an adequate intra and interobserver correlation (ICC 0.996–0.999) of stiffness in all anatomical sites both in normal and pathologic cervix (p < 0.005). The stiffness in normal cervix is from 38.28 ± 19.76 kPa vs to 61.58 ± 27.54 kPa in the pathological cervix. Conclusion: The SWE has an adequate intra and interobserver correlation for its use in evaluating both normal and pathological cervix.

Keywords
Shear-wave elastography
Cervical pathology
Cervical stiffness
Reproducibility
Figures
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