Use of cervical elastography to assess the effectiveness of labor pre-induction with a dilation catheter
Pachuliia O.V., Kopteeva E.V., Milyutina Yu.P., Khalenko V.V., Mokhnachev A.V., Bespalova O.N.
Objective: To assess the possibility of cervical elastography (compression elastography) use as a method for evaluating the effectiveness of pre-induction of labor in full-term pregnancy using a dilation catheter (double balloon and single-balloon Foley catheter).
Materials and methods: The study comprised 58 patients with singleton pregnancies at ≥37 weeks' gestation. Pre-induction was performed using two types of dilatation catheters. Cervical elastography and palpation using the Bishop score were performed before and after the procedure.
Results: The number of patients with an "absolutely soft" cervix according to the Bishop scale increased from 12% to 83% (p<0.001) after pre-induction of labor with a balloon catheter. According to elastography data of the anterior cervical lip, the proportion of "soft" and "very soft" cervix increased from 9% to 91% (p<0.001). We found high comparability of elastography data of the anterior cervical lip with the palpation data according to Bishop score (AUC=0.850). The relative risk of achieving optimal cervical maturity was 1.48 times higher when using a double balloon catheter, and the time to delivery was significantly shorter than when using a single balloon Foley catheter (p=0.033), without the increase in the incidence of complications.
Conclusion: Compression elastography is a new noninvasive tool for adequate assessment of the birth canal maturity, equal to the Bishop score. A double-balloon catheter is an effective and safe method for pre-induction of labor, ensuring faster achievement of cervical maturity.
Authors’ contributions: Pachuliia O.V., Kopteeva E.V., Milyutina Yu.P., Khalenko V.V., Mokhnachev A.V., Bespalova O.N. – study concept and design, collection, processing and analysis of materials, text composition and editing. All authors made a significant contribution to the elaboration of the study concept, study conduction and manuscript processing; read and approved the final manuscript version before publication.
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Funding: The study was carried out within the framework of the Fundamental Research No. 1024032800227-5-3.2.2 “Medical and biological matrices of healthy maternity and fetal antenatal programming” (2025–2027).
Ethical Approval: The study protocol was approved by the local bioethics committee of the D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology.
Patient Consent for Publication: The patients signed informed consent for the publication of their data.
Authors' Data Sharing Statement. The data supporting the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author after approval from the principal investigator.
For citation: Pachuliia O.V., Kopteeva E.V., Milyutina Yu.P., Khalenko V.V., Mokhnachev A.V., Bespalova O.N.
Use of cervical elastography to assess the effectiveness of labor pre-induction with a dilation catheter.
Akusherstvo i Ginekologiya/Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2025; (12): 64-73 (in Russian)
https://dx.doi.org/10.18565/aig.2025.208
Keywords
pre-induction of labor
double-balloon catheter
compression elastography
cervix
Bishop score
cervical maturity
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Received 04.08.2025
Accepted 27.11.2025
About the Authors
Olga V. Pachuliia, PhD, Senior Researcher at the Department of Obstetrics and Perinatology, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology, 199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya line, 3, for.olga.kosyakova@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4116-0222Ekaterina V. Kopteeva, PhD, Scientific Secretary, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology, 199034, Russia, St. Petersburg,
Mendeleevskaya line, 3, +7(911)218-86-69, ekaterina_kopteeva@bk.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9328-8909
Yulia P. Milyutina, Dr. Bio. Sci., Leading Researcher at the Laboratory of Biochemistry of Reproduction and Medical and Environmental Problems, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology, 199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya line, 3, milyutina1010@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1951-8312
Vladislava V. Khalenko, Junior Researcher at the Department of Reproductology, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology,
199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya line, 3, vkhalenko@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5313-2259
Alexander V. Mokhnachev, PhD student, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology, 199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya line, 3, mokhnachev.alexander@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6929-3396
Olesya N. Bespalova, Dr. Med. Sci., Deputy Director for Science, D.O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductology,
199034, Russia, St. Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya line, 3, shiggerra@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6542-5953
Corresponding author: Ekaterina V. Kopteeva, ekaterina_kopteeva@bk.ru
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