Question:medium
Regarding Hegar's sign, all are true EXCEPT?
Regarding Hegar's sign, all are true EXCEPT?
Show Hint
Hegar's sign belongs to early pregnancy; recall its exact week window of 6 to 10 weeks.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- It is elicited by the bimanual palpation method
- It is difficult to elicit in obese women
- It can be done at 14 weeks
- It is present in about two-thirds of cases
Show Solution
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: This is a negative-lead question on Hegar's sign, an early pregnancy finding produced by exaggerated softening of the uterine isthmus. We must find the one wrong statement among four.
Step 2: Verify the timing first. The softening that makes the sign detectable is present only in the first trimester window, roughly $6$ to $10$ weeks, and even earlier in women who have delivered before. By $14$ weeks the lower segment is no longer distinctly soft and empty, so the sign is not elicited then. The claim that it can be done at $14$ weeks is therefore the false one.
Step 3: Confirm the remaining statements. The technique is bimanual, with two vaginal fingers in the front fornix and the abdominal hand behind the fundus so the two sets of fingers appose below the body of the uterus, so that option is true. Excess abdominal fat hampers deep palpation, making the sign hard to elicit in obese women, so that is true. The sign is detectable in approximately two-thirds of pregnant women, so that too is true.
Step 4: The statement that does not hold, being limited to early gestation rather than $14$ weeks, is that it can be done at 14 weeks.
\[\boxed{\text{Can be done at 14 weeks}}\]
Step 2: Verify the timing first. The softening that makes the sign detectable is present only in the first trimester window, roughly $6$ to $10$ weeks, and even earlier in women who have delivered before. By $14$ weeks the lower segment is no longer distinctly soft and empty, so the sign is not elicited then. The claim that it can be done at $14$ weeks is therefore the false one.
Step 3: Confirm the remaining statements. The technique is bimanual, with two vaginal fingers in the front fornix and the abdominal hand behind the fundus so the two sets of fingers appose below the body of the uterus, so that option is true. Excess abdominal fat hampers deep palpation, making the sign hard to elicit in obese women, so that is true. The sign is detectable in approximately two-thirds of pregnant women, so that too is true.
Step 4: The statement that does not hold, being limited to early gestation rather than $14$ weeks, is that it can be done at 14 weeks.
\[\boxed{\text{Can be done at 14 weeks}}\]
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