CClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT05267717Updated Mar 4, 2022

Impact of Pessary Treatment on Cervical Stiffness Measurement and Birth Outcomes in Patients at Risk for Preterm Birth

An observational study in Preterm Birth, sponsored by Asklepios proresearch. Status unknown at 1 site in Germany. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-03-04.

Sponsored by Asklepios proresearch · Observational

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Jan 2022), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Study type
Observational
Model
Case-control
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
120
Ages
18 Years to 50 Years
Sex
Female
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Study summary

Background: A preterm birth remain a worldwide important socioeconomic burden since prematurity has been consistently implicated in a wide range of health medical problems affecting newborn child and contributed in up to more than a half of overall perinatal mortality. Several studies have shown a significant therapeutic benefit as a result of an antenatal cervical pessary use in a high-risk preterm birth group of pregnant women. However the underlying mechanism by which pessary can reduce a risk of a preterm birth remain elusive. The study aims to quantitatively assess an ectocervical stiffness in a normal and in a treated with a pessary high-risk preterm birth pregnancy.

Methods: A prospective, non-interventional, post-market, monocentric, longitudinal, cohort study in a obstetric-led tertiary maternity teaching hospital to determine ectocervical stiffness and its changes measured prior and after the placement of a pessary, and the correlation of measured cervical stiffness or its changes with birth outcome in a high-risk preterm birth pregnant women indicated for cervical pessary. A cervical stiffness measured with Pregnolia system as the Cervical Stiffness Index (CSI, in mbar) will be a primary, whilst patient delivery data (gestational age, mode of delivery and complications) will be a secondary endpoint. In this pilot study, up to 142 subjects will be enrolled to have a total of 120 subjects (estimated dropout rate of 15%) completed the study; Pessary cohort: 60 (up to 71 recruited), normal cohort: 60 (up to 71 recruited).

Discussion: We hypothesize than the study will substantially improve our knowledge about cervical incontinency and preterm labour pathophysiology. We hope that our investigation will be able to elucidate ectocervical stiffness phenomenon both in high-risk preterm birth and in normal pregnant control, as well as the impact of cervical pessary use on a the CSI values.

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Conditions studied

  • Preterm Birth

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Keywords

  • Preterm Birth
  • Cervical stiffness
  • Risk assessment
  • Pregnolia System
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In context

Premature Birth

2,554 studies on the registry are indexed under Premature Birth; 498 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 120 is close to the median of 112 across 777 observational studies indexed under Premature Birth.

Browse Premature Birth studies →

Lead sponsor

Asklepios proresearch is the lead sponsor of 17 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 50 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Study population Determining a study eligibility will occur on a first visit. Since our research will be longitudinal and cohort study, two cohorts of subjects to enable a cross group differences comparison will be distinguished: the pessary and the normal (non-pessary) cohort.

Sample size calculation In this pilot study, up to 142 subjects will be enrolled to have a total of 120 subjects (estimated dropout rate of 15%) completed the study; Pessary cohort: 60 (up to 71 recruited), normal cohort: 60 (up to 71 recruited). Currently, it is difficult to perform a formal power analysis since the primarx System is a novel device and limited underlying clinical data exists.

Inclusion criteria

All participants must meet the criteria in order to be eligible: a singleton gestation, pregnant women recruited between 18+0 - 24+6 weeks of gestation, maternal age ≥18 years, the ability to sign approved consent form to participate in the study.

Moreover both for a pessary cohort and for a normal cohort additional cohort-specific criteria for each group will need to be met. For the pessary cohort those shall consist of: suspected short cervix and confirmed on TVUS (CL \< 3rd percentile at gestational age at measurement) according to Salomon at al, whilst for the control (no-pessary) group: asymptomatic pregnant women with no risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth, respectively

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Any possible exclusion criteria will be evaluated for an ineligibility for the study on a first visit. Exclusion criteria for both pessary and control group will be: evidence of fetal anomaly or fetal chromosomal abnormality from fetal ultrasound, uterine malformations, a history of diethylstilboestrol (DES) use, (cases of so-called so called DES daughters, who were exposed to DES in utero), a cervical cerclage or pessary currently in place, a silicone allergy, painful regular contractions, abnormal placentation (previa, accrete), the rupture of membranes, a cervical dilation, any visible, symptomatic cervical or vaginal infections (this excludes treated, asymptomatic infections), a known HIV infection, cervical carcinoma, the presence on the cervix at the 12 o'clock position of any of the following conditions: Nabothian cyst, cervical myomas, cervical condylomas, cervical endometriosis, cervical tears, scar tissue, cervical ectopy, cervical scarring due to prior LLETZ, cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion, cervical dysplasia, cone biopsy, a vaginal bleeding evident on exam.

The exclusion criteria about conditions on the cervix at 12 o'clock position cannot be checked without being enrolled in the study as it is an extra study assessment. Therefore, participants will be enrolled, the speculum assessment will be done after enrolment to clarify if any condition on the cervix at 12 o'clock position according to the exclusion criterion is present. If yes, the woman needs to be excluded from the study shortly after enrolment. These subjects will be replaced to reach the total number calculated.

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Study design

Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
120 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Control/Normal (no-pessary) group

    All participants will must meet the criteria in order to be eligible: a singleton gestation, pregnant women recruited between 18+0 - 24+6 weeks of gestation, maternal age ≥18 years, the ability to sign approved consent form to participate in the study. Moreover for a normal cohort are being enrolled only asymptomatic pregnant women with no risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth

    Other: Non-interventional study, all patients being tested with AG Pregnolia System to assess the values of the Cervical Stiffness

  • Pessarry group

    All participants will must meet the criteria in order to be eligible: a singleton gestation, pregnant women recruited between 18+0 - 24+6 weeks of gestation, maternal age ≥18 years, the ability to sign approved consent form to participate in the study. Moreover both for a pessary cohort additional cohort-specific criteria need to be met. Those are: suspected short cervix and confirmotian with transvaginal ultrasound - TVUS (CL \< 3rd percentile at gestational age at measurement) according to Salomon at al.

    Other: Non-interventional study, all patients being tested with AG Pregnolia System to assess the values of the Cervical Stiffness

Interventions

  • OtherNon-interventional study, all patients being tested with AG Pregnolia System to assess the values of the Cervical Stiffness

    Non-interventional study,

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Cervical Stiffness Index

    The primary objective is to determine the absolute value of CSI (Cervical Stiffness Index) and its change over time in women undergoing pessary treatment, in comparison to normal pregnancies, when measured at 18+0 to 24+6 weeks and at the follow-up visit (4 weeks later).

    Time frame: The first visit (18+0-24+6 weeks of gestation) and the follow-up visit (4 weeks later)

Secondary outcomes

  1. the correlation of the initial CSI and CSI changes with birth outcome

    The secondary objective is to determine the correlation of the initial CSI and CSI changes with birth outcome (gestational age at birth). The safety objective is the safety of the device, by assessing incidence, severity and seriousness of device-related adverse events.

    Time frame: The first visit (18+0-24+6 weeks of gestation) and the follow-up visit (4 weeks later)

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Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • ASKLEPIOS proresearch, Department of Pre-and Perinatal Medicine, Asklepios Barmbek, Hamburg-Barmbek, Germany.
    Hamburg, Lohmühlenstraße 5/Haus J, 20099, Germany
    • Ioanis Kyvernitakis, Prof. dr. med. · Contact · i.kyvernitakis@asklepios.com · +4917682487002
    • Ioannis Kyvernitakis, Prof. · Principal investigator
    • Maciej Osinski, Dr. · Principal investigator
    • Holger Maul, Prof. · Principal investigator
    Recruiting
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 4, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05267717
Lead sponsor
Asklepios proresearch
Collaborators
AG Pregnolia
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 4, 2022
Start date
Nov 23, 2021
Primary completion
Sep 30, 2022 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2022 (estimated)
Last update
Mar 4, 2022

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is status unknown, as verified in Jan 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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