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Efficacy and Safety of Prophylactic Uterine Artery Embolization in Pregnancy Termination with Placenta Previa

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Abstract

Purpose

To appraise the efficacy and safety of prophylactic uterine artery embolization in pregnancy termination with placenta previa.

Methods

A cohort of 54 consecutive patients with placenta previa underwent prophylactic uterine artery embolization before vaginal delivery from February 2012 to March 2015. Vaginal delivery was attempted in all patients. Cesarean section or hysterectomy was introduced when vaginal delivery failed.

Results

Vaginal delivery succeeded in 50 patients (93.6%) and failed in 4 patients (6.4%), thereupon converted to cesarean delivery. No patients resorted to hysterectomy. Six patients (11.1%) underwent blood transfusion. None of clinical characteristics, including maternal age, gestational age, history of abortion, history of cesarean delivery, and volume of vaginal bleeding, was significantly associated with complete placenta previa (P > 0.05). However, patients with complete placenta previa had a significantly lower successful rate of vaginal delivery than did patients without complete placenta previa (81 vs 100%, P = 0.038). The rate of complications was 3.7%. No major complications were observed.

Conclusion

Uterine artery embolization is an effective and safe technique to assist pregnancy termination with placenta previa, which may lower the risk of cesarean section, hysterectomy, and blood transfusion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Interventional Therapy, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, 241001, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Renguang Pei, Guoxiang Wang, Heping Wang, Xinyu Huang, Xiaoxing Yan & Xiaohua Yang

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  1. Renguang Pei
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  2. Guoxiang Wang
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  3. Heping Wang
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  4. Xinyu Huang
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  5. Xiaoxing Yan
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  6. Xiaohua Yang
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Correspondence to Renguang Pei.

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No conflicts of interest exist for all authors involved in this manuscript.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Pei, R., Wang, G., Wang, H. et al. Efficacy and Safety of Prophylactic Uterine Artery Embolization in Pregnancy Termination with Placenta Previa. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 40, 375–380 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-016-1507-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-016-1507-y

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