Pregnant woman with placenta previa delivered of baby at Chennai hospital

A 37-year-old woman with severe pregnancy complications involving the placenta has successfully delivered a baby at MIOT International, Chennai

A 37-year-old woman with severe pregnancy complications involving the placenta has successfully delivered a baby at MIOT International, Chennai.

Priyadharshini, a working professional and a mother of a 13-year-old, was diagnosed with Grade IV Placenta Previa with Focal Placenta Accreta — a condition in which the placenta gets lodged very low in the uterus, completely covering the cervix and making normal delivery impossible — in the 28th week of her second pregnancy. The condition can occur to 1 in 100 women, who have had either past surgeries in the uterus, in vitro fertilisation treatment, uterine fibroids, or family history with the same complication, said doctors who performed the hybrid procedure. 

Karthikeyan Damodaran, Director, Vascular and Interventional Radiologist, and Saraswathy Gokulraj, head of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the condition could cause torrential bleeding during the delivery and it would have made an immediate hysterectomy necessary. 

To avoid these, Dr. Damodaran, at the MIOT’s Biplane Cath Lab, performed a procedure wherein two catheters were inserted into the artery that supplies blood to the uterus to control the blood flow during delivery. Subsequently, Dr. Gokulraj safely carried out the C-section. However, Priyadharshini continued to bleed despite the shrinking uterus after the baby was delivered. 

“So, we released temporary biodegradable particles through the catheters to avoid excessive bleeding,” said the doctors. The procedure eliminated the need for any blood transfusions or removal of the uterus, they added. Ms. Priyadharshini and the baby were discharged three days after the delivery.