Postpartum haemorrhage in nulliparous women: incidence and risk factors in low and high risk women. A Dutch population-based cohort study on standard (> or = 500 ml) and severe (> or = 1000 ml) postpartum haemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence and risk factors for standard and severe postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) in vaginally delivering nulliparous women, before and after risk stratification. STUDY DESIGN: A population-based cohort study in an unselected cohort nulliparous women (N = 3464) in 'The Zaanstreek' district, The Netherlands. Risk stratification is part of routine care, where midwives cover all obstetrical care for women with low risk pregnancies. RESULTS: The incidence of standard PPH (> or = 500 ml) and severe PPH (> or = 1000 ml) were 19 and 4.2%, respectively. A retained placenta occurred in 1.8%. These data show consistently slightly higher values as compared to studies in literature. The most important risk factors for standard and severe PPH were related to an abnormal third stage of labour-third stage > or = 30 min and retained placenta (in severe PPH: odds ratio (OR) 14.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 10.4-19.1). High birth weight and perineal damage were less important, but independent, significant risk factors. In the low risk group (N = 1416), incidence of severe PPH was 4.0%. Independent risk factors for severe PPH were third stage > or = 30 min (incidence 7.1%, OR 3.6) and retained placenta (incidence 1.2%, OR 21.6). In 25% of the women with a prolonged third stage (> or = 30 min), third stage was complicated due to retained placenta and/or severe PPH (1.8% of the low risk group). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of PPH in nulliparous women in this cohort was on average higher than published data, while the most important risk factors for standard and severe PPH, even after risk stratification, were the same. A prolonged third stage of labour has to be considered as abnormal, requiring specific action.

Effects of retention of fetal membranes on subsequent reproductive performance of dairy ewes.

Seventy-one pairs of ewes with or without retention of fetal membranes in the previous lambing season, were included in a cohort study of 25 flocks in southern Greece; in 27 pairs regulation of the breeding cycle was applied, whilst in the other 44 pairs natural mating took place. The following measures of reproductive performance were calculated: cycling rate, mating rate, return-to-estrus rate, abortion rate, lambing rate, total lambs born per ewe, liveborn lambs per ewe, stillbirth rate, lamb-bodyweight per ewe; furthermore, the incidence risk of retention of fetal membranes during the lambing examined in this study was also calculated. No statistically significant differences were observed in the reproductive performance among ewes that had or had not retained their fetal membranes during the previous lambing, whether the breeding cycle was regulated or not. The incidence risk of retention of fetal membranes among ewes that had not retained its placenta in the previous lambing was 1.6%, whilst that among ewes that had retained its placenta in the previous lactation was 0%. It is concluded that retention of fetal membranes did not appear to adversely affect subsequent reproductive performance of ewes.

Retained products of conception masquerading as acquired arteriovenous malformation.

This case documents a seldom-described event of retained products of conception masquerading as an acquired arteriovenous malformation (AVM) of the uterus. The patient presented with sudden onset of heavy vaginal bleeding 6 weeks after artificial abortion. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a diffuse intramural lesion predominantly consisting of prominent vessels, which raised suspicion of an AVM. Hysterectomy revealed retained products of placenta that were necrotic and encroached into thin myometrium.

[Curettage of uterine cavity in late puerperal bleeding]. / Wylyzeczkowanie jamy macicy z powodu póznych krwawiein pologowych.

Sixty eight (68) female patients were subjected to curettage caused by late puerperal bleeding. The above group is considered as 0.8% of all the female patients who delivered children during the period of research. The most frequent causes of bleeding were: abnormal desquamation of decidua (48.5%), residua of secundines (32.4%), and endometritis (14.7%). Prior to curettage, every patient was subjected to ultrasonographic examination. The suspicion of residual secundines, found in ultrasonographic examination was later confirmed in 36.8% of patients. No significant interdependence between the results of ultrasonographic and histopathological examinations, were noted. The disturbances in natural process of decidua excretion were rarely diagnosed in ultrasonographic pictures (3%) when puerperal bleeding required curettage of uterine cavity.

Anti-shock garment provides resuscitation and haemostasis for obstetric haemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment for resuscitation and haemostasis following obstetric haemorrhage resulting in severe shock. DESIGN: During a six-week period, the author served a locum tenens as the obstetrician consultant for the Memorial Christian Hospital, Sialkot, Pakistan. All women who suffered from severe obstetric haemorrhage were managed with the anti-shock garment as the first intervention. The data for this report were collected from hospital chart review. SETTING: Sialkot is a city of about three million and Memorial Christian Hospital is one of two major obstetric hospitals. There is no blood bank at Memorial Christian Hospital or elsewhere in Sialkot. The Memorial Christian Hospital laboratory is able to draw donor blood, type and cross match blood, and process it for transfusion 24 hours per day. POPULATION: During the six weeks of this study, in June and July 2001, there were 764 deliveries and 34 other admissions within a week following deliveries outside the hospital. Seven women with obstetric haemorrhage who developed severe shock were managed with the anti-shock garment. One woman, who was later found to have mitral stenosis, developed dyspnea upon placement of the anti-shock garment and therefore it was removed within 5 minutes. This report concerns the six women who were able to tolerate the anti-shock garment without untoward symptoms. METHODS: As soon as severe shock was recognised in the hospital, the anti-shock garment was placed. Crystalloid solutions were given intravenously over the first hour at a rate of 1500 mL per estimated litre of blood loss, then at a maintenance rate of 150 mL/hour. Vital signs every 15 to 30 minutes, hourly urine output and intermittent oxygen saturation were used to monitor patients during the use of the anti-shock garment. When sufficient blood transfusion had been given to restore the haemoglobin to >7 g/dL, the anti-shock garment was removed in segments at 15-minute intervals with documentation of vital signs before removal of each subsequent portion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Restoration of mean arterial pressure of 70 mmHg and clearing of sensorium were considered as signs of effective resuscitation. Haemorrhage was considered controlled if the blood loss was less than 25 mL/hour. Morbidity included any complications noted in the medical chart. RESULTS: Restoration of blood pressure and improvement of mental status occurred within 5 minutes in two patients who were pulseless and three who were unconscious or confused. All patients had improvement of mean arterial pressure to greater than 70 mmHg within 5 minutes. Duration of anti-shock garment use ranged from 12 to 36 hours and none of the six women had significant further bleeding while the anti-shock garment was in place. Patients were comfortable during use of the anti-shock garment and no adverse effects were noted apart from a transient decrease in urine output. CONCLUSIONS: The anti-shock garment rapidly restored vital signs in women with severe obstetric shock. There was no further haemorrhage during or after anti-shock garment use and the women experienced no subsequent morbidity. A prospective randomised study of the anti-shock garment for management of obstetric haemorrhage is needed to further document these observations.

Embolization for advanced abdominal pregnancy with a retained placenta. A case report.

BACKGROUND: Abdominal pregnancy is not encountered commonly, and management of the placenta is controversial. CASE: A 33-year-old woman presented with an abdominal pregnancy at 33 weeks' gestation with fetal death. The placental vasculature was embolized preoperatively. Following operative delivery. of the fetus, the placenta was left in situ in efforts to preserve fertility given its implantation on the reproductive organs. The patient suffered prolonged postoperative ileus but otherwise did well. Placental function ceased after two months. CONCLUSION: Placental vasculature embolization is a management option for a retained placenta associated with abdominal pregnancy.

A comparison of clinical assessment with ultrasound in the management of secondary postpartum haemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of clinical assessment with transabdominal ultrasound in the management of secondary postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. METHODS: Fifty-three women who presented to a teaching hospital obstetric unit with secondary PPH were studied. Patients were divided into those in whom retained placental tissue was or was not the suspected cause of bleeding. This diagnosis was based on history/examination and transabdominal pelvic ultrasound scan. The definitive diagnosis was made following uterine evacuation or was assumed in women who stopped bleeding without surgical management. Likelihood ratio (LR) was used as an accuracy measure. RESULTS: The positive LR for clinical assessment was 5.5 (95% CI 2.7-12.1) compared with 2.4 (95% CI 1.5-3.7) for ultrasound. The negative LRs were 0.1 (95% CI 0.04-0.5) and 0.1 (95% CI 0.02-0.5) for clinical and ultrasound assessment, respectively. CONCLUSION: Clinical examination and ultrasound scan assessment have limited diagnostic accuracy in secondary PPH.

Reproductive performance of Friesian mares after retained placenta and manual removal of the placenta.

Because the incidence of retained placenta in Friesian mares is estimated to be high, and no reports have been published on the reproductive performance of Friesian mares after retained placenta, we studied postpartum reproductive performance in Friesian brood mares with (n = 54) and without (n = 50) retained placenta. We defined a retained placenta as the failure to expel all fetal membranes within 3 h after the delivery of a foal. We subdivided the group of mares with retained placenta into mares in which the placenta had been removed manually (n = 30) and mares in which it had not (n = 24). Within each group, we compared reproductive performance after breeding in the foal heat and breeding in a subsequent heat. We also recorded the age of the mares, number of mares treated with antibiotics after insemination, and number of mares treated with prostaglandins. The interval between delivery and conception, efficacy rate (number of served cycles divided by the number of mares that had a positive pregnancy diagnosis), seasonal pregnancy rate, pregnancy rate after first insemination, pregnancy loss rate, and foaling rate did not differ between mares with and without retained placenta or between mares with and without manual removal of the retained placenta. Within each group, the pregnancy rate after first insemination did not differ between breeding for the first time in the foal heat and breeding for the first time in a subsequent heat. We concluded that reproductive performance did not differ between (1) Friesian mares with and without retained placenta and (2) Friesian mares with and without manual removal of the placenta. With regard to reproductive performance, retained placenta and manual removal of the placenta are not valid reasons to avoid foal heat breeding in Friesian mares.

Extramedullary hematopoiesis in the endometrium.

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) in the endometrium is an extremely rare occurrence. Four of the eight previously reported cases were related to an underlying hematological disorder, although the remainder had no such relationship. We describe a case of endometrial EMH associated with retained products of conception after termination of pregnancy. Routinely and immunohistochemically stained slides revealed several collections of normoblasts and granulocytic precursors in the endometrium with synchronous chronic endometritis. Retained chorionic villi were also identified. The patient had no known history of a hematological disorder or systemic disease and no such abnormality was detected after detailed hematological work-up. Local effects of growth factors on circulating stem cells may play a pathogenetic role in this process, although an association with recent pregnancy in this case suggests that implantation of fetal hematopoietic elements from the fetus or yolk sac may be more likely.

Risk factors for placenta praevia in southern Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk factors for placenta praevia in Ile-Ife, southern Nigeria. DESIGN: A prospective case control study. SETTING: A tertiary center--Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, southern Nigeria. SUBJECTS: One hundred and thirty six patients with confirmed placenta praevia constituted the cases. Controls consisted of one hundred and thirty six patients who delivered at term immediately after each indexed case and did not have placenta praevia. RESULTS: Cases and controls were similar in terms of twin deliveries (P = 0.72) and past history of uterine surgery (P = 0.47). After adjusting for confounders, factors associated with risk of placenta praevia were history of retained placenta [OR = 6.7(95% CI 1.2-36.6)], previous caesarean section [OR = 4.7, (95% CI 1.9-11.4)], previous abortion [OR = 2.9 (95% CI 1.1-5.1)], grand multiparity [OR = 2.1 (95% CI 1.6-7.1)] and age over 35 years [OR = 1.4 (95% CI 1.2-6.6)]. CONCLUSIONS: From our study, the risk factors for placenta praevia are a history of retained placenta, previous caesarean section, previous abortion, grand multiparity and maternal age over 35 years.

Secondary postpartum haemorrhage: incidence, morbidity and current management.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, risk factors, presentation, treatment and morbidity associated with secondary postpartum haemorrhage. DESIGN: Analysis of 132 consecutive women presenting with secondary postpartum haemorrhage occurring over a three-year period. SETTING: The maternity unit in a district general teaching hospital serving an annual delivery rate of around 6500 women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Factors associated with the cause of the haemorrhage and the resulting morbidity. RESULTS: Most women presented during the second week after delivery. A history of primary postpartum haemorrhage (OR 9.3; 95% CI 6.2-14.0) and manual removal of placenta (OR 3.5; 95% CI 1.6-7.5) were the only significant risk factors identified. There was a high associated morbidity, with 84% requiring hospital admission, 63% surgical evacuation, 17% blood transfusion, with three women suffering a uterine perforation, one managed by hysterectomy. In women undergoing evacuation only, 37% had retained placental tissue confirmed after surgery; pre-operative ultrasound examination did not provide a better discrimination over clinical assessment for this finding. CONCLUSIONS: Secondary postpartum haemorrhage occurs in just under 1% of women, is associated with primary postpartum haemorrhage and retained placenta, and may result in significant maternal morbidity. This problem deserves more attention than it has received in recent years.

Disruption of lactogenesis by retained placental fragments.

This case report describes a situation in which lack of milk production led the mother to seek help from a lactation consultant in private practice. Despite extensive breast stimulation with the baby at breast and mechanical breast expression, no milk was produced. Retained placenta was suspected by the lactation consultant. The mother was later diagnosed with placenta increta. Only when this condition was diagnosed and resolved did milk onset occur. It is important to evaluate for retained placental fragments when lactation appears to be delayed.

Relationship between intra-uterine bacterial contamination, endotoxin levels and the development of endometritis in postpartum cows with dystocia or retained placenta.

A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between intra-uterine bacterial contamination, endotoxin levels and the development of endometritis in cows that experienced a dystocia or retained their placenta. Fifteen healthy cows, 31 cows with retained placenta (RP) and 13 cows that had dystocia were clinically examined 1 or 2 days after parturition when a uterine swab for bacteriological examination was taken. In addition, plasma and uterine lochia samples were collected to determine lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the plasma IgG anti-LPS concentrations. Subsequently, 15 RP and 6 dystocia cows were initially left untreated and another uterine swab was collected at 2 and 4 wk postpartum. Immediately after calving, RP cows had significantly higher LPS levels in uterine lochia (average of 2.24 x 10(4) Endotoxin Units (EU)/mL) as compared to dystocia and healthy postpartum cows (average of 0.10 and 0.26 EU/mL, respectively). However, plasma LPS levels were below the detection limit (<0.036 EU/mL platelet-rich plasma) in all groups of cows. IgG anti-LPS levels in plasma were not significantly different between the 3 groups immediately postpartum (average of 26, 16 and 44 Median Units (MU)/mL) for healthy, dystocia and RP cows, respectively), but they were significantly lower when compared to plasma IgG anti-LPS levels of healthy cows at more than 2 months postpartum (mean 83 MU/mL). High LPS levels in lochia at 1 or 2 days postpartum were significantly related to abnormal cervical discharge, the presence of Escherichia coli, black pigmented gram-negative anaerobes and Clostridium spp. shortly after calving, and Arcanobacterium pyogenes and gram-negative anaerobes in the uterus at 14 days postpartum. These results suggest that the presence of E. coli and LPS (endotoxins) in lochia early postpartum favor the development of uterine infections by A. pyogenes and gram-negative anaerobes later postpartum. LPS were not observed in plasma, suggesting that either they are not absorbed into the blood, or they are efficiently detoxified by IgG anti-LPS or other detoxification mechanisms.

Selective arterial embolization of the uterine arteries in the management of intractable post-partum hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of selective arterial embolization in the management of intractable post-partum hemorrhage. METHODS: Thirty-five consecutive women with severe post-partum hemorrhage (primary, n=25; secondary, n=10) were treated by selective embolization of the uterine arteries. The main cause of immediate post-partum hemorrhage was atonic uterus. Retained placental fragments with endometritis was the main cause of delayed hemorrhage. In all cases, hemostatic embolization was performed because of intractable hemorrhage. Hysterectomy had been performed in two cases before embolization but it had also failed to stop the bleeding. RESULTS: Angiography revealed extravasation in ten cases, spasm of the internal iliac artery in four cases, false aneurysm in two cases and arteriovenous fistula in one case. After embolization, immediate cessation or dramatic diminution of bleeding was observed in all cases. Two patients required repeated embolization the following day. No major complication related to embolization was found. In one patient with placenta accreta, delayed hysterectomy was necessary. Normal menstruation resumed in all women but two who had hysterectomy. One woman became pregnant after embolization. CONCLUSION: Selective emergency arterial embolization is an effective means of controlling severe post-partum hemorrhage. This procedure avoids high risk surgery and maintains reproductive ability.

Secondary postpartum hemorrhage: treatment with selective arterial embolization.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of selective arterial embolization of the uterine arteries in the management of intractable delayed postpartum hemorrhage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen consecutive women with secondary postpartum hemorrhage were treated with selective embolization of the uterine arteries. In all cases, hemostatic embolization was performed because of intractable hemorrhage that could not be controlled with the administration of uterotonic drugs or with uterine curettage. RESULTS: The causes of bleeding included genital tract tears in four women and endometritis in eight women; the endometritis was associated with proved, retained portions of placenta in four women. In two women, no evident cause of bleeding was found before angiography. Angiography revealed extravasation in three women. A false aneurysm of the uterine artery was found in two women. In one patient, an arteriovenous fistula was observed. Immediate resolution of external bleeding was observed in all women. No complication related to embolization was found. Normal menstruation resumed in all women. CONCLUSION: Selective arterial embolization of the uterine arteries is a safe and effective means of controlling secondary postpartum hemorrhage.