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Updated: Apr 14, 2026
Ex Vivo Perfusion of the Rodent Placenta
Published on: May 30, 2019
Foetal Radiation Dose During Prophylactic Occlusion Balloon Placement for Morbidly Adherent Placenta
Vittorio Semeraro1,2, Ana Susac3, Andrea Morasca4
1Department of Radiology, St. George's Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London, SW17 0QT, UK. vittoriosemeraro@hotmail.it.
Objective:
To assess foetal absorbed radiation dose (FAD) during prophylactic occlusion balloon catheter (POBC) placement before surgery for morbidly adherent placenta (MAP).
Methods:
Retrospective cohort study of women with MAP undergoing POBC before surgery. Women were divided into two groups. Group 1 treated between 2008 and 2011, Group 2 between 2012 and 2014 when fluoroscopy pulse rate reduced from 7.5 to 2 pulses per second. Median and interquartile range (IQR) of dose area product (DAP) and FAD were compared using the Mann-U-Whitney test. FAD was calculated using the PCXMC Monte-Carlo calculation. All procedures were performed using the same equipment (Siemens Axiom Artis dTA) by the same experienced interventional radiology team.
Results:
Thirty-four women underwent POBC. 16 procedures were performed in Group 1 and 18 in Group 2. Median DAP overall was 1025.10 µGym(2) (IQR 532.1-1775.3): Group 1, 1713.25 µGym(2) (IQR 1164.5-2274.5) and Group 2, 660.70 µGym(2) (IQR 440.9-1020.9) (p = 0.027). Median FAD overall was 4.65 mGy (IQR 2.7-8.2): Group 1, 6.25 mGy (IQR 4.4-10.6) and Group 2, 3.05 mGy (IQR 2.0-5.4) (p = 0.031).
Conclusions:
FAD during POBC insertion is low overall. The only change between the two groups was in pulsed fluoroscopy rate which resulted in a significant reduction in FAD. This reinforces the importance of implementation of dose reduction techniques.
