Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 27, 2025
External Cephalic Version: Is it an Effective and Safe Procedure?
Published on: June 6, 2020
Endovascular treatment of cesarean scar pregnancy: a retrospective multicentric study
Giovanni Failla1, Federica Libra2, Francesco Giurazza3
1Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliera per l'emergenza Cannizzaro, Catania, Italy. failla.giovanni@gmail.com.
Purpose:
To assess the role of Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE) to treat cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) using different embolic materials, focusing on its clinical and technical success rates; the association of UAE with methotrexate (MTX) and/or dilatation & curettage (D&C) was evaluated also.
Materials And Methods:
A retrospective analysis 33 patients (mean age 35 years) affected by CSP and treated with UAE from March 2012 to 2020 was performed. Dynamic levels of serum β-HCG have been collected until they decreased to normal values after procedures. For the statistical analysis the sample was divided into 2 groups: UAE versus UAE + MTX.
Results:
The gestational sac age ranged between 5 and 13 weeks (mean 7 weeks). According to operator's preference, 11 patients (33.33%) were treated with sponge injection, 2 patients (6.06%) with a combination of sponge and microsphere the remaining 20 patients (60.60%) with microspheres alone. No major complications occurred after UAE and D&C, neither side effects related to the MTX administration. Technical and clinical success rates were 97% and 85%, respectively. Mean percentage of β-HCG reduction was 90% (range - 99.92 to + 7.98%). Statistical analysis with linear regression shows a R2 value of 0.9624 in UAE group while a R2 value of 0.9440 in UAE + MTX group with statistical significance (p < 0.0001). No significative differences were found between the two groups about clinical success rate and embolic material adopted.
Conclusion:
In this series UAE has been found to be safe and effective for the treatment of CSP.
