Abstract

The major objective of this study is to analyze the histological findings in emergency obstetric hysterectomy specimens and correlate them with the clinical diagnosis, epidemiological factors and number of tissue blocks examined. The records of all peripartum hysterectomy specimens examined between 1995 and 2001 in the Department of Pathology, Al-Sabah Hospital Kuwait were analyzed. A minimum of ten blocks from the cervix or lower uterine segment was arbitrarily regarded as adequate. Fifty-eight patients had peripartum hysterectomies (incidence of 0.07% of all deliveries) out of which 65% were aged between 30 and 40 years. The number of hysterectomy increased with parity up to five and then declined. The number of blocks examined varied from 2 to 53. Satisfactory pathology was found in 40 and absent in 18 cases. There were 33 adherent placentas. Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) was found in seven patients. Adequate tissue blocks (>or=10) were significantly associated with positive pathological findings. P value <0.05.