The Assessment of Intrapartum Transperineal Ultrasonographic Parameters for their Effectiveness in Evaluation of Progress of Labor and Prediction of Mode of Delivery in Egyptian Women

Introduction: High fetal head station has been associated with prolonged labor and delivery outcomes. Although clinical assessment of fetal head station is both subjective and unreliable, women with prolonged labor are subjected to multiple digital vaginal examinations. The use of ultrasound has been proposed to aid in the management of labor since 1990s. Ultrasound examination is more accurate and reproducible than clinical examination in the diagnosis of fetal head station and in the prediction of arrest of labor. Ultrasound examination can, to some extent, distinguish those women destined for spontaneous vaginal delivery and those destined for operative delivery and may predict the outcome of instrumental vaginal delivery. Such a technique has the potential to reduce the frequency of intrusive internal examinations and associated infection and could be useful in allowing the assessment of women in whom digital VE is traumatic or contra-indicated. Intrapartum ultrasound not only provides objective and quantitative data in labor, but also helps to make more reliable clinical decisions aiming to improve obstetric outcomes of both the mother and fetus as a supplementary tool for active management. Aim of the work: This study aims at assessing the value of intrapartum transperineal ultrasonography as a quantitative and objective tool in the evaluation of progress of labor and prediction of mode of delivery. Subjects: This study was a prospective observational study conducted on 600 primiparous women in active first stage of labor admitted to Kasr Al Ainy maternity hospital from January 2017 to June 2018. The studied population was divided into two groups. Group A of 300 women with normal progress of labor and group B of 300 women with prolonged 1st stage of labor. Methods: Fetal head station(FHS) was assessed clinically by digital vaginal examination (dVE) and sonographically by transperineal ultrasound measurement of head perineal distance (HPD) and angle of progression (AOP). Intrapartum care of the patient continued as normal based only on digital vaginal examinations using the modified WHO partogram. (1). Statistical analysis was targeted towards assessing the potential of the intrapartum ultrasonography in the evaluation of progress of labor and prediction of mode of delivery. Results: All studied parameters for assessment of FHS (dVE, HPD, and AOP) significantly corelated with each other and with both progress of labor and mode of delivery with P value (<0.001). The highest sensitivity for prediction of progress of labor is observed using dVE (83%), the highest specificity is observed using AOP (78.3%). The highest sensitivity for prediction mode of delivery is for combined HPD & AOP (97.7%) while the highest specificity is for AOP (81%). When combining both HPD and AOP for prediction of mode of delivery, the assessment of both parameters was found to have a high sensitivity of 97.7% and a high positive predictive value of 86.63%. Conclusion: Intrapartum ultrasound examination is a valuable tool in the prediction of progress of labor and mode of delivery. The assessment of fetal head station by transperineal ultrasound measurement of HPD and AOP is much more informative of the progress of labor and the mode of delivery than digital assessment of fetal head station. Keywords: Labor, intrapartum ultrasound, Angle of progression, Head perineal distance, fetal head station, digital vaginal examination.

Reliability of ultrasound versus digital vaginal examination in detecting cervical dilatation during labor: a diagnostic test accuracy systematic review

Background This systematic review aimed to investigate the reliability of ultrasound method compared with digital vaginal examinations in detecting cervical dilation. Methods We searched Cochrane (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, ISI Web of Science Core Collection, Trip Database, PubMed, DARE and NHS EED, HTA, and PROSPERO. Ten observational studies with a total sample size of 856 were included in the meta-analysis. Results The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values ranged between 0.21 and 0.69. The fixed-effect models for the ultrasound test showed an average of ICC (r = 0.32 (95% CI 0.26–0.38). Correlation between two methods was poor (r = 0.359, 95% CI 0.26–0.44). In nulliparous and multigravida participants the correlation between ultrasound measurements and digital examinations was (r = 0.349, 95% CI 0.25–0.43) and ICC (r = 0.676, 95% CI 0.419–0.833), respectively. Conclusion Trans-perineal ultrasonography seems to be a reliable method for assessing labor progression in multigravida women, but its usage in nulliparous women needs further studies.

The Comparison of Intrapartum Sonographic Signs and Digital Examination in Fetus with Cephalic Presentation

Objective: The agreement of fetal head position examined by digital vaginal examination (DVE) and intrapartum sonographic signs (ISS) in pregnant women during labor. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Two hundred eight-term singleton pregnant women attending labor at Ramathibodi Hospital, Thailand with the fetal cephalic presentation, cervical dilatation of 4 to 8 cm, station –2 or below and no contraindication for DVE were enrolled. The DVE evaluating fetal head position was performed by the third-year obstetrical residents. After DVE, ISS via transabdominal ultrasound for determining fetal head position was obtained immediately by the first researcher. The DVE report and the ultrasonographic images of ISS were recorded separately. The fetal head position based on ISS was designated by the second researcher blinded to the DVE result. The agreement of DVE and ISS for determining fetal head position was analyzed. Results: Two hundred eight pregnant women were analyzed. The fetal head position detected by DVE was consistent with that of ISS at 41.3% (p<0.001). The most percent agreement was observed in the fetus with left occiput anterior position at 72.7% (p<0.001). The lowest percent agreement was found in the direct occiput posterior at 14.3% (p=0.243). Parity, gestational age, current body mass index, epidural analgesia, cervical effacement, caput succedaneum, molding, and station did not significantly affect the discrepancy between DVE and ISS. Conclusion: The agreement between DVE and ISS for evaluating the fetal head position was low. The ISS might be considered for evaluating the fetal head position. Keywords: Fetal head position, Intrapartum sonographic sign, Digital vaginal examination

Sonographic parameters for diagnosing fetal head engagement during labour

The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of the head–perineum distance, angle of progression, and the head–symphysis distance as intrapartum ultrasound parameters in the determination of an engaged fetal head. Two hundred and one women in labour underwent both ultrasound and digital vaginal examination in the estimation of fetal head station. The transperineal ultrasound measured head–perineum distance, angle of progression, and head–symphysis distance for values correlating with digital vaginal examination head station. Using station 0 as the minimum level of head engagement, correlating cut-off values for head–perineum distance, angle of progression, and head–symphysis distance were obtained. Receiver operating characteristics were used in determining the diagnostic performance of these cut-off values for the detection of fetal head engagement. With head–perineum distance of 3.6 cm the sensitivity and specificity of sonographic determination of engaged fetal head were 78.7 and 72.3%, respectively. A head–symphysis distance of 2.8 cm also had sensitivity and specificity of 74.5 and 70.8%, respectively, in determining engagement, whilst an angle of progression of 101° was consistent with engagement by digital vaginal examination with 68.1% sensitivity and 68.2% specificity. Ultrasound shows high diagnostic performance in determining engaged fetal head at a head–perineum distance of ≤3.6 cm, head–symphysis distance of ≤2.8 cm, and angle of progression of ≥ 101°.