Reproductive outcomes of cesarean scar pregnancies pretreated with methotrexate and uterine artery embolization prior to curettage

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reproductive outcomes of cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) pretreated with methotrexate (MTX) and uterine artery embolization (UAE) prior to curettage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of patients with CSP who were pretreated with MTX and UAE prior to curettage in our institute from January 2013 to December 2015 were collected and retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 53 patients were eligible for further analysis. Consecutive systemic MTX or a single dose of MTX was administered in 31 or 15 patients, respectively. The UAE procedure was uneventful, and no side effects occurred. The duration of the curettage operation was 21.4 ± 10.4 min, and the volume of blood loss was 23.5 ± 61.6 ml. The serum β-HCG level returned to normal 36.1 ± 10.1 days after the date of initial MTX administration. Eight of 10 patients with a desire to have children became pregnant naturally. Two (25%) patients developed recurrent CSP during the first trimester. One patient underwent emergency cesarean delivery and hysterectomy due to placental implantation and sudden massive hemorrhage during delivery. A total of 6 live newborns were delivered. CONCLUSION: Pretreatment with MTX and UAE prior to curettage is safe and effective for the management of CSP. The reproductive outcomes are encouraging.