Zohreh: IC & resection (pg & loss ment)

[Guest guest]

<<I guess I just sent you another email but I read about your cerclage

just now. Was your IC a result of resecting your septum? The reason

I ask is that I have IC. I had a 9W m/c last January and a 21W m/c

in August 2003. The second one was three weeks after preventive

cerclage (the cervix was already open so didn't help as much even

with full bed rest). I am told that many people with partial septum

have IC as well. Did you get that after your surgery? I know that I

need a cerclage in any future pregnancy but was worried if resecting

septum would make my cervix weaker.>>

Zohreh,

There have been studies done on resection of septa that transected the

cervix. Surgeons were curious as to whether resecting or leaving the septa

would have any influence on IC, and the results showed that resection of the

cervical septa made no difference in pregnancy outcomes.

I'm sorry to hear that you had a loss due to IC. I also had one, losing a

son at 19 weeks, with membrane prolapse followed by a short labor that

stalled once the sac and fluid had been pushed out of the uterus. Labor had

to be induced to finish the miscarriage. I had an SU with a septum that

came all the way down to the cervix but not into the cervix.

After an HSG diagnosed my septum, I opted to have a lap/hyst, but the

surgeon used hand scissors to snip through the middle part of my septum,

leaving the bottom portion intact and a remnant at the top. (This was not

intentional, mind you, and resulted in a perforation of the fundus.) A

second resection shortened up the top segment of the septum a little bit but

did not touch the bottom segment.

I had a cerclage in a subsequent pregnancy and my cervix stayed very long

until the c-section at 37 weeks. The bottom segment of the septum pushed

aside to the right as the baby's head expanded the lower segment of the

uterus.

We are not sure if I have a true IC, but clearly my cervix was more

incompetent than that of other women who were able to successfully carry

babies with a complete SU. It is thought that about 20% of women with MAs

have cervical incompetence as a side effect; it is a deficiency in cervical

development more than anything, as women who have short septa are also prone

to it.

In my case, the increased space was more helpful than anything, and a

cerclage placed *very early*--at 11 weeks--held up very well.

Best wishes,

Beth

SU, resected x 2