Pregnancy after uterine arteriovenous malformation–case series and literature review

Purpose: To perform a retrospective audit of cases of uterine arteriovenous malformations (UAVM) at The Canberra Hospital and review of recent literature reporting pregnancies occurring after the diagnosis of UAVM aiming to devise a diagnostic and treatment protocol to optimise pregnancy post UAVM. Methods: A retrospective audit of cases of UAVM at the Canberra Hospital from a prospectively managed patient database was performed. A search of the electronic database PubMed, for articles between 2000-2011 relating to pregnancy post UAVM. Individual case studies were analysed separately to case series. Results: The study included 28 individual studies and five case series (61 women). Average age was 29.5 ± 6.7 (range 18-42). Most women (24, 85.7%, 100% in case series) presented with abnormal vaginal bleeding; 11 (41%) individuals presented post interruption of pregnancy. All women had had a previous pregnancy (mean gravidity 3.1 ± 3.1, range 1-15 for case studies) and only four women (14.2 %) had no history of uterine trauma. Only one woman (3.6 %) did not have any ultrasound and most women underwent colour Doppler ultrasonography (20, 71.4% in case studies; 61, 83.6% in case series). Of the women, 72 (53.6 % of case studies, 78.1 % of case series) were treated with uterine artery embolisation, seven (25%) were treated expectantly. A total of 63 pregnancies occurred post treatment, seven (13.9%) ending in miscarriage. Average time to conceive post diagnosis was 19 months ± 16.3 (range 2-72). A total of 54 healthy infants were born to mothers post AVM diagnosis. Conclusion: UAVM are likely to exist on a continuum with other pregnancy related pathologies, such as sub involution of the placental bed, making a single best diagnostic and treatment plan difficult. However, this study shows that successful uncomplicated pregnancy is achievable for women after the diagnosis of UAVM.