Mifepristone does not induce cervical softening in non-pregnant women

Avraham Ben‐Chetrit, Talia Eldar‐Geva, Tzina Lindenberg, Morshed Farhat, Shlomo Shimonovitz, David Zacut, Hadassa Gelber, Régine Sitruk‐Ware, Irving M. Spitz
In: Human Reproduction · 2004 · vol. 19(10) , pp. 2372–2376 · doi:10.1093/humrep/deh420 · PMID:15271871 · W2095675173
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 3 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-11 ⓘ

Mifepristone (200 mg) given 30 hours before hysteroscopy did not induce cervical softening or reduce pain in non-pregnant women compared to placebo.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Many techniques have been developed to soften the cervix to reduce complications following surgical dilatation. Progesterone inhibits myometrial contractility and its secretion during pregnancy ensures cervical competence. We used the progesterone antagonist mifepristone as a cervical ripening agent and evaluated its effect prior to office hysteroscopy. METHODS: Fifty-eight healthy non-pregnant women aged 18-50 were studied in a randomized double-blind study. They received mifepristone (200 mg) or placebo 30 h prior to hysteroscopy. A Hegar test was performed prior to drug administration and again before hysteroscopy. A visual analogue pain scale was used to assess pain. RESULTS: Medical history, physical examination and blood tests were similar in both groups, except for serum progesterone which was higher in the study group. Hegar measurement prior to drug ingestion was similar in both groups and after a mean time of 30.3 h increased in both groups. Neither the DeltaHegar measurement nor the pain scale was different in the two groups. There was also no effect of the high progesterone levels. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike its dramatic effect in the pregnant uterus, mifepristone administered 30 h prior to hysteroscopy was not effective in ripening the cervix of non-pregnant women.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cited by (3)

References (28)

Cited by (3)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-05-11T06:01:13.017405+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK