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Updated: Dec 23, 2025
Anogenital Distance and Perineal Measurements of the Pelvic Organ Prolapse POP Quantification System
Published on: September 20, 2018
Pubic Arch Angle Measurement by Transperineal Ultrasonography: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study
Raimundo Homero Carvalho Neto1, Antonio Brazil Viana Junior1, Antonio Fernandes Moron2
1Maternal Fetal Medicine Service, Maternidade Assis Chateaubriand, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
Objective:
To evaluate the ability of the pubic arch angle (PAA) as measured by transperineal ultrasonography during labor to predict the delivery type and cephalic pole disengagement mode.
Methods:
The present prospective cross-sectional study included 221 women in singleton-gestational labor ≥ 37 weeks with cephalic fetuses who underwent PAA measurement using transperineal ultrasonography. These measurements were correlated with the delivery type, cephalic pole disengagement mode, and fetal and maternal characteristics.
Results:
Out of the subjects, 153 (69.2%) had spontaneous vaginal delivery, 7 (3.2%) gave birth by forceps, and 61 (27.6%) delivered by cesarean section. For the analysis, deliveries were divided into two groups: vaginal and surgical (forceps and cesarean). The mean PAA was 102 ± 7.5° (range, 79.3-117.7°). No statistically significant difference was observed in delivery type (102.6 ± 7.2° versus 100.8 ± 7.9°, p = 0.105). The occipitoanterior position was seen in 94.1% of the fetuses and the occipitoposterior position in 5.8%. A narrower PAA was found in the group of surgical deliveries (97.9 ± 9.6° versus 102.6 ± 7.3°, p = 0.049). Multivariate regression analysis showed that PAA was a predictive variable for the occurrence of head disengagement in occipital varieties after birth (odds ratio, 0.9; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.99; p = 0.026).
Conclusion:
Ultrasonographic measurement of the PAA was not a predictor of delivery type, but was associated with the persistence of occipital varieties after birth.
