We report on embolization in 36 cases of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). The 36 patients with severe PPH, including one patient who had undergone an emergency hysterectomy, were transferred to the regional interventional vascular radiology unit in a mean time of 6 hours 12 min. Bilateral occlusion of the anterior trunk of the hypogastric arteries was carried out using gelatin sponge. Immediate success was achieved in all cases. In 3 cases, however, a second embolization was necessary before day 2. In 17%, complementary nonvascular surgery was performed. Complications included one puncture site false aneurysm treated by compression, two cases of regressive lower limb paraesthesia, one femoral vein thrombosis, and nonsignificant puncture site hematomas (19.5%). Long-term follow-up was conducted in 23 patients: 91% resumed regular menstrual cycles, 8.7% dysmenorrhea. New pregnancy occurred in 13% (two full-term pregnancies and one voluntary termination). Immediate efficacy, low morbidity and preservation of fertility make embolization the technique of choice for severe PPH.

Potentiostatic noise measurements are performed on a series of AISI 430 type ferritic stainless steels containing controlled amounts of sulfur (from 8 up to 47 ppm) and titanium (up to 0.37 wt%), in 0.02M sodium chloride (NaCl) aqueous solution (pH 6.6), in a range of potentials below the pitting potential. We focus on the evolution of the shape of the current transients, going from a titanium (Ti) free and 41-ppm sulfur-containing alloy to different Ti-bearing alloys with comparable amount of sulfur (∼40 ppm). The results are compared to the case of a Ti-free and low sulfur (8-ppm) containing alloy. The shape of the anodic current transients obeys a power law, tn. We distinguish two different situations, with n either less or larger than 1, which can be associated with the Ti and sulfur content in the steel. The influence of the exposure time under polarization is also discussed. It appears that for the manganese sulfide (MnS)-containing alloys, after prolonged polarization, the shape of the metastable pitting events evolves toward that found for MnS-free alloys (Ti-bearing), or low-sulfur-containing alloys. Attention is drawn to the possible relationship between the shape of the current transients and the metallurgical defects acting as pitting initiation sites.

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