Acretismo placentario

introduction: an increased risk of placenta accreta and placenta percreta is associated with patients having had previous caesarean deliveries or placenta previa; such conditions have been increasing of late. prenatal detection may be helpful in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. objective: evaluating the usefulness of ultrasound (us) and magnetic resonance (mr) for prenatal detection of abnormal placental separation. methodology: this was a prospective study which included 11 patients in the third trimester of pregnancy having a history of previou scaesarean and placenta previa. transabdominal and transvaginal us, colour doppler and mr were thus performed, seeking signs of placenta accreta; these were compared to histopathological findings and data from when birth was given. results: us and mr had 70% sensitivity (95% ci 35.4-91.9) whilst colour doppler had 90% sensitivity (95%ci 54.1-99.5). conclusions: us and colour doppler us might be useful, highly sensitive techniques for detecting abnormal adherence of the placenta in patients having a history of placenta previa and previous caesarean deliveries. further studies are required for confirming their diagnostic validity.