“Near miss” maternal morbidity following repeat rescue cerclage for twin pregnancy

Abstract

Objective Repeat cervical cerclage is one of the treatment options described in the literature for when the primary cerclage suture fails. However, infectious complications of cerclage placement may be encountered which are more obvious for the newborn. In our presented case, severe acute maternal morbidity was encountered for the sake of prolonging pregnancy. Case(s) Twenty-seven year old nullipar patient at 23+5 gestational weeks with dichorionic diamniotic pregnancy was admitted to our emergency clinic with complaints of “pain” and “vaginal bleeding”. At 18 weeks of pregnancy she had a Shirodkar cerclage procedure indicated by a short cervical length (14 mm) at our hospital. She presented with “bulging of membranes” to a different institution and underwent a repeat cerclage at 23+3 weeks. Chorioamnionitis was suspected and the patient was counselled for a pregnancy termination. After termination of pregnancy, “cardiac arrest” developed. After 2 minutes of resuscitation sinus rythm was obtained. The patient was admitted to the ICU. Conclusion The role of repeat cerclage is controversial. Efforts should be maximized to rule out underlying intrauterine infection prior to placement of a cerclage suture for there to be a therapeutic benefit of prolonging the pregnancy.