Study objective: To study the severity of intrauterine adhesions (IUA) after uterine arterial embolization and to evaluate fertility, pregnancy, and obstetrical outcomes after hysteroscopic treatment.
Design: Retrospective cohort.
Setting: French University Hospital.
Patients: Thirty-three patients under the age of 40 years who were treated by uterine artery embolization with nonabsorbable microparticles between 2010 and 2020 for symptomatic fibroids or adenomyosis, or postpartum hemorrhage.
Interventions: All patients had a diagnosis of IUA after embolization. All patients desired future fertility. IUA was treated with operative hysteroscopy.
Measurements and main results: Severity of IUA, number of operative hysteroscopies performed to obtain a normal cavity shape, pregnancy rate, and obstetrical outcomes. Of our 33 patients, 81.8% had severe IUA (state IV et V according to the European Society of Gynecological Endoscopy or state III according to the American fertility society classification). To restore fertility potential, an average of 3.4 operative hysteroscopies had to be performed [CI 95% (2.56-4.16)]. We reported a very low rate of pregnancy (8/33, 24%). Obstetrical outcomes reported are 50% of premature birth and 62.5% of delivery hemorrhage partly due to 37.5% of placenta accreta. We also reported 2 neonatal deaths.
Conclusion: IUA after uterine embolization is severe, and more difficult to treat than other synechiae, probably related to endometrial necrosis. Pregnancy and obstetrical outcomes have shown a low pregnancy rate, an increased risk of preterm delivery, a high risk of placental disorders, and very severe postpartum hemorrhage. Those results have to alert gynecologists and radiologists to the use of uterine arterial embolization in women who desire future fertility.
Keywords: Fertility; Hysteroscopy; Interventional Radiology; Surgery synechiae; Uterine artery embolization.
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