Placenta Accreta: What Is This? - Dr. Grayson

Dr. Grayson:
Placenta accreta is a process where the placenta normally implants superficially into the wall of the uterus, in the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, something that’s disposable and detachable. When placenta accretas occur, and there’s varying different degrees of placental implantation problems, the placenta now implants not only in the superficial layers of the uterus but into the muscle of the uterus, or in the case of prior cesarean sections, into the scar in the uterus.

The problem with that is that, at the time of delivery the placenta doesn’t want to detach and it actually maintains its attachment to the uterus and that brings into kind of the realm of complications, bleeding that occurs with a partial separation of placenta or in the process of trying to take that placenta off when it’s no longer designed to come lose and can frequently lead to a cesarean hysterectomy and massive blood transfusions.

About Dr. Robert C. Grayson, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.:
Robert C. Grayson, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and on staff at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz. He received his undergraduate degree in biology at University of California, Riverside and his Masters of Public Health from the University of California School of Public Health in Los Angeles before completing his Doctor of Medicine at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles.

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