Morbidly adherent placenta

Morbidly adherent placenta, which describes placenta accreta, increta, and percreta, implies an abnormal implantation of the placenta into the uterine wall. The incidence of placenta accreta has increased significantly over the past several decades, with the main risk factors include prior cesarean section and placental previa. Sonographic markers of placenta accreta can be present as early as the first trimester and include a low uterine implantation of a gestational sac, multiple vascular lacunae within the placenta, loss of the normal hypoechoic retroplacental zone, and abnormality of the uterine serosa-bladder interface, among others. Ultrasound has high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of placenta accreta and MRI should be reserved for rare cases in which the ultrasound is non-diagnostic. The optimum time for planned delivery for a patient with placenta accreta is around 34-35 weeks following a course of corticosteroid injection. The successful management of placenta accreta includes a multidisciplinary care team approach with the successful management relying heavily on the prenatal diagnosis of this entity and preparing for the surgical management in a multidisciplinary approach by assuring the most skilled team is available for those patients. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.