Objective To investigate the value of temporary balloon occlusion of the abdominal aorta in the treatment of complete placenta previa with placenta accreta. Methods From January 2015 to February 2016, 24 cases of complete placenta previa with placenta accreta were treated with temporary balloon occlusion of the abdominal aorta (the study group) before cesarean, and 24 cases of complete placenta previa with placenta accreta did not receive balloon occlusion (the control group). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative blood transfusion volume, the perioperative hemoglobin level, the hysterectomy rate and the related complications were compared retrospectively.Also, the hospitalization time, the blood coagulation parameters after operation, including activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (FIB), D-Dimer and reperfusion injury parameters including creatine phosphokinase (CK), creatine phosphokinase isoenzyme (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and serum creatinine were compared between the 2 groups. Results The blood loss [750 ml (400-2 000 ml) vs 2 000 ml (1 500-2 375 ml);Z=-3.214, P=0.001] and blood transfusion volume [200 ml (0-800 ml) vs 800 ml (0-1 200 ml);173, P=0.030] in the study group were lower than in the control group. The hemoglobin difference between before and after operation in the study group was lower than the control group [(12.8±13.4) g/L vs (22.9±20.1) g/L;t=-2.041, P=0.047]. In the study group, there were still bleeding in 13 cases after releasing the balloon, 5 of them received uterine artery embolization, 5 cases received uterine artery ligation, and 3 cases received uterine packing. One case had venous thrombosis in the right lower limb. Two cases (8%,2/24) in the control group had hysterectomy, while none in the study group, there was no statistical significance (P=0.489). Conclusions Temporary balloon occlusion of the abdominal aorta can effectively reduce blood loss and blood transfusion in the treatment of complete placenta previa with placenta accreta, but there is still the risk of continuing bleeding after releasing the balloon. Other methods of hemostasis might be needed.

This article reported a rare case of harlequin ichthyosis which was indicated with multiple structural abnormalities by prenatal ultrasound and diagnosed by trio-based whole-exome sequencing (Trio-WES). Prenatal diagnosis was performed because the ultrasound at 24 +4 gestational weeks revealed the fetus presenting with eclabium, flattened nose, short mandible, small auricle and abnormal posture of the toes. Copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq) showed no chromosome aneuploidy or pathogenic copy number variants over 100 kb in the fetal or parental samples. Trio-WES showed that the fetus carried two heterozygous mutations, c.2593-1G>A and c.7444C>T in ABCA12. Sanger sequencing confirmed that c.2593-1G>A, a previously unreported variant, was paternally inherited and c.7444C>T was maternally inherited. Both parents had normal phenotype. The fetus was finally diagnosed with harlequin ichthyosis. After prenatal counseling, the parents made an informed choice to terminate the pregnancy at 28 +4 gestational weeks. The stillborn fetus showed multiple malformations The variants in this case expand the spectrum of variants in ABCA12 gene.