Effectiveness of ultrasound screening for placenta accreta spectrum using standard ultrasound criteria in a secondary care setting

Objectives: Ultrasound detection of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) among women at risk is a key goal to reduce obstetric morbidity, but there is scarce information of its performance in real clinical settings. We report the effectiveness of a standardized ultrasound protocol to detect PAS in women with placenta previa in a secondary-level hospital. Methods: A retrospective analysis, including a cohort of 126 women with persistent placenta previa among 27,975 pregnancies between 2008 and 2020. All 126 women underwent standardized transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound assessing 5 criteria: 1) loss of hypoechoic retroplacental zone and/or myometrial thinning <1 mm; 2) lacunar images with flow >15 cm/sec; 3) thick and bulging placenta; 4) thinning or interruption of the uterine-bladder serous interface; and 5) placental or uterovesical hypervascularity. The presence of at least one criterion was considered a high-risk for PAS. Diagnosis of PAS was confirmed during caesarean section and by histopathological analysis. Results: Among 126 women with placenta previa, 11 (8.7%) cases of PAS were diagnosed, of which 10 were detected prenatally by ultrasound. This resulted in a sensitivity of 90,9%, a specificity of 98,3%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 83,3%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 99,1%. Histopathological assessment showed six placenta increta (54.5%), four percreta (36.4%) and one accreta (9.1%). All 10 cases of invasive placenta presented more than three ultrasound criteria. Conclusions: Standardized ultrasound screening protocol in women at risk due to placenta previa in the third trimester was highly effective in detecting PAS in a secondary-level hospital setting.

Placental Dysfunction in Assisted Reproductive Pregnancies: Perinatal, Neonatal and Adult Life Outcomes

Obstetric and newborn outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART) pregnancies are associated with significative prevalence of maternal and neonatal adverse health conditions, such as cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. These data are interpreted as anomalies in placentation involving a dysregulation of several molecular factors and pathways. It is not clear which extent of the observed placental alterations are the result of ART and which originate from infertility itself. These two aspects probably act synergically for the final obstetric risk. Data show that mechanisms of inappropriate trophoblast invasion and consequent altered vascular remodeling sustain several clinical conditions, leading to obstetric and perinatal risks often found in ART pregnancies, such as preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction and placenta previa or accreta. The roles of factors such as VEGF, GATA3, PIGF, sFLT-1, sEndoglin, EGFL7, melatonin and of ART conditions, such as short or long embryo cultures, trophectoderm biopsy, embryo cryopreservation, and supraphysiologic endometrium preparation, are discussed. Inflammatory local conditions and epigenetic influence on embryos of ART procedures are important research topics since they may have important consequences on obstetric risk. Prevention and treatment of these conditions represent new frontiers for clinicians and biologists involved in ART, and synergic actions with researchers at molecular levels are advocated.

Case Report: Anaesthetic Management of Placenta Percreta

Background: The placenta is a complicated organ and is partially understood. It is the essential part for physiological changes leading to a successful pregnancy. Placenta percreta is the most severe and least common form of placenta accreta in which villi penetrate the entire myometrial thickness and reach or traverse the serosa to encroach adjacent organs. Patients with placenta percreta are at a greater risk of life-threatening perioperative bleeding as well as massive and deadly thromboembolic events. Case report: Our patient was a 34-year-old gravida 5female who underwent elective cesarean section at 37 weeks of gestation with a diagnosis of placenta accreta or percreta. Intraoperative findings showed placenta percreta with bladder wall involvement. Hence, hysterectomy was done. Anticipated intraoperative haemorrhage and hemodynamic instability were managed properly. Discussion: Placenta percreta is the most serious among abnormal placentation, sometimes leading to catastrophic blood loss and very high maternal mortality and morbidity up to 10%. The most important risk factor in placenta percreta is placenta previa (low lying placenta) after cesarean delivery. Our patient met all these risk factors. Prenatal diagnosis of an invasive placenta is paramount for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality by implementing a multidisciplinary approach. Keywords: haemorrhage, placenta percreta, hysterectomy, high-risk pregnancy.

Miomectomía en embarazo temprano

Los miomas o leiomiomas son tumores benignos monoclonales que histológicamente surgen de la proliferación del músculo liso y tejido conectivo del útero. Son de crecimiento lento y la degeneración maligna es menor a 1% y tan bajo como 0.2%. La prevalencia mundial varia de 5-21%, aumenta con la edad; 1.8% en mujeres de 20-29 años y 14.1% en mayores de 40 años. Se reporta reducción del embarazo clínico en pacientes con miomatosis uterina mayor de 4 cms (29 vs 52%, p=0.025), comparadas en mujeres sin miomatosis uterina. Si se logra el embarazo como tal, los miomas durante el embarazo pueden causar: incremento en la tasa de abortos espontáneos (por distorsión de la cavidad uterina), contracciones prematuras, ruptura prematura de membranas, placenta previa, desprendimiento prematuro de placenta, presentación fetal anormal, o hemorragia post parto y aumento en el índice de cesáreas. Describimos el caso clínico de paciente femenina de 36 años, primigesta, con historia de infertilidad primaria y diagnóstico de miomatosis uterina de grandes elementos con embarazo de 11 semanas, en quien se decide miomectomía durante embarazo por presentar varios cuadros clínicos de amenaza de aborto y dolor pélvico constantemente, así como dificultad respiratoria por volumen uterino, que evoluciona satisfactoriamente y en quien se resuelve embarazo por medio de una cesárea programada mas histerectomía, obteniéndose recién nacida femenina a término.

Efficacy of prophylactic tranexamic acid administration in prevention of postpartum hemorrhage in placenta previa cesarean section: an interventional study

Background: Postpartum hemorrhage accounts for the major part of the mortality as well as morbidity like severe anemia, need for blood transfusion, hospital stay and infection. Aim and objectives of the study were to determine the efficacy and safety of prophylactic tranexamic acid and intravenous tranexamic acid in preventing postpartum hemorrhage in women undergoing caesarean section for placenta previa.Methods: Seventy women with placenta previa over 1 year, randomized into 2 groups: group 1 (n=35): Women who received 10 IU oxytocin intravenous infusion after placental delivery and group 2 (n=35): Women who received 1 gm (10 ml) tranexamic acid IV before skin incision plus 10 IU oxytocin intravenous infusion after placental delivery.Results: The mean age was similar in 2 groups i.e., 26.34±4.78 years in group 1 and 27.31±5.62 years in group 2. Most women in the present study presented with type IV placenta previa i.e., 34.3% in group 1 and 48.6% in group 2. Mean pre-operative hemoglobin was 9.57±1.54 g/dl in group 1 and 9.59±1.35 g/dl in group 2. Intra-operative mean blood loss was 729.31±172.45 ml in intravenous oxytocin group and 464.86±28.00 ml in intravenous tranexamic acid group. A total of 74.3% women in group 1 and 20% women in group 2 developed postpartum hemorrhage. Mean post-operative hemoglobin was 8.04±1.34 g/dl in group 1 and 8.85±1.26 g/dl in group 2. In group 1, 5.7% neonates were born with very low birth weight and while none in group 2. 51.4% neonates in group 1 and 45.7% in group 2 had low birth weight.Conclusions: It is concluded that tranexamic acid used prophylactically intravenously before skin incision in patients undergoing cesarean section for placenta previa significantly reduces intra-operative blood loss.

The Mostafa Maged hemostatic flipping-over technique to control and prevent the post-partum bleeding from the lower uterine segment in placenta previa cases

Post-partum hemorrhage is still a headache to all obstetricians around the whole world. Every obstetrician exerts his own full effort to control bleeding which can occur post-partum by applying all maneuvers to preserve the fertility and the uterus for the patient. We demonstrate a new technique (Mostafa Maged) technique to control and prevent post-partum hemorrhage. It is so simple maneuver and easy to be applied within short period of time. Satisfactory hemostasis can be assessed after application. The aim of this technique is to see the Success in Controlling and prevention of the bleeding from placenta previa cases from lower uterine segment. The average duration of this new technique is (5-7) minutes. The results have shown that the hysterectomy done to one patient with new technique (1/13) (7.6%) cases because of the uncontrollable bleeding, blood was creeping down from the flipped sutured lower uterine segment. All of patients are introduced to the operating room as first-time cesarean section. One patient (7.6%) out of thirteen patients were tachycardiac post-operatively due to the more loss of blood as the new (Mostafa Maged) technique took a long time in these two patients (8 minutes). The tests of success were expected if hemostasis is done by the bimanual compression at first place.

MRI-Based Radiomics Nomogram To Predict Intraoperative Hemorrhage of Placenta Previa

Background: Placenta previa is associated with higher percentage of intraoperative and postpartum hemorrhage, increased obstetric hysterectomy, significant maternal morbidity and mortality. We aimed to develop and validate a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based nomogram to preoperative prediction of intraoperative hemorrhage (IPH) for placenta previa, which might contribute to adequate assessment and preoperative preparation for the obstetricians.Methods: Between May 2015 and December 2019, a total of 125 placenta previa pregnant women were divided into a training set (n = 80) and a validation set (n = 45). Radiomics features were extracted from MRI images of each patient. A MRI-based model comprising seven features was built for the classification of patients into IPH and non-IPH groups in a training set and validation set. Multivariate nomograms based on logistic regression analyses were built according to radiomics features. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the model. Predictive accuracy of nomogram were assessed by calibration plots and decision curve analysis. Results: In multivariate analysis, placenta position, placenta thickness, cervical blood sinus and placental signals in the cervix were signifcantly independent predictors for IPH (all p < 0.05). The MRI-based nomogram showed favorable discrimination between IPH and non-IPH groups. The calibration curve showed good agreement between the estimated and the actual probability of IPH. Decision curve analysis also showed a high clinical benefit across a wide range of probability thresholds. The AUC was 0.918 ( 95% CI, 0.857-0.979 ) in the training set and 0.866( 95% CI, 0.748-0.985 ) in the validation set by the combination of four MRI features.Conclusions: The MRI-based nomograms might be a useful tool for the preoperative prediction of IPH outcomes for placenta previa. Our study enables obstetricians to perform adequate preoperative evaluation to minimize blood loss and reduce the rate of caesarean hysterectomy.