Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on May 6, 2008
Human Reproduction 2008 23(7):1553-1559; doi:10.1093/humrep/den122
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF )
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/7/1553    most recent
den122v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chauleur, C.
Right arrow Articles by Seffert, P.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chauleur, C.
Right arrow Articles by Seffert, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Serious primary post-partum hemorrhage, arterial embolization and future fertility: a retrospective study of 46 cases

C. Chauleur1,4, C. Fanget1, G. Tourne1, R. Levy2, C. Larchez3 and P. Seffert1

1 Department of Gynecology–Obstetrics, University Hospital NORD, F-42055 Saint-Etienne Cedex 2, France 2 Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Nord, Saint-Etienne, France 3 Service de Radiologie, CHU Hôpital Nord, Avenue Albert Raimond, 42055 Saint-Etienne 2, France

4 Correspondence address. Tel: +33-4-77-82-82-87; Fax: +33-4-77-82-81-82; E-mail: celine.chauleur{at}chu-st-etienne.fr

BACKGROUND: The guidelines advise arterial embolization in case of post-partum hemorrhage. We evaluated its feasibility and the subsequent fertility.

METHODS: A retrospective study has been conducted in our center for the past 10 years (1996–2005). Fifty-two patients experiencing a primary post-partum hemorrhage who were resistant to medical treatment underwent uterine artery embolization and/or hysterectomy. In case of arterial embolization, a follow-up of all the patients was realized, focusing on the preservation of fertility.

RESULTS: Six (11.5%) patients underwent hysterectomy straightaway and 46 (88.5%) arterial embolization in the first instance including 35 arterial embolizations after Cesarean section. Embolization was successful among 41 patients (89.1%) and hysterectomy was performed on the 5 (10.9%) others. Overall, 11/24 398 women suffered from a definitive loss of fertility after post-partum hemorrhage. Fertility was studied at least 1 year after the delivery. All patients had a return of normal menses. Sixteen of 41 women (39%) wanted another child and 100% succeeded. Nineteen pregnancies, including two twin pregnancy and one early spontaneous abortion were observed.

CONCLUSIONS: Embolization is a safe and effective non-surgical method to resolve post-partum hemorrhage and should be regarded as gold standard in a hemodynamically stable patient. Furthermore, subsequent fertility is not impaired by the procedure.

Key words: embolization/primary post-partum hemorrhage/Cesarean section/fertility

Submitted on September 12, 2007; resubmitted on March 9, 2008; accepted on March 17, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.