Ectopic Pregnancy
To view the entire topic, please log in or purchase a subscription.
Medicine Central™ is a quick-consult mobile and web resource that includes diagnosis, treatment, medications, and follow-up information on over 700 diseases and disorders, providing fast answers—anytime, anywhere. Explore these free sample topics:
-- The first section of this topic is shown below --
Basics
Description
Ectopic: pregnancy implanted outside the uterine cavity. Subtypes include:
- Tubal: pregnancy implanted in any portion of the fallopian tube
- Abdominal: pregnancy implanted intra-abdominally, most commonly after tubal abortion or rupture of tubal ectopic pregnancy
- Heterotopic: pregnancy implanted intrauterine and a separate pregnancy implanted outside uterine cavity
- Ovarian: implantation of pregnancy in ovarian tissue
- Cervical: implantation of pregnancy in cervix
- Intraligamentary: implantation of pregnancy within the broad ligament
Epidemiology
Incidence- The true incidence is difficult to estimate. Incidence is likely between about 6 and 20 per 1,000 pregnancies in the United States. About 1 in 10 1st trimester pregnancies presenting to the emergency with pain and/or bleeding are due to ectopic pregnancy.
- In the United States, ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of 1st trimester maternal deaths.
- Heterotopic pregnancy, although rare (1:30,000), occurs with greater frequency in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) (1/1,000).
- Increasing incidence of nontubal, and particularly cesarean scar ectopic pregnancies, due in part to more cesarean sections and more IVF
Prevalence
~33% recurrence rate if prior ectopic pregnancy
Etiology and Pathophysiology
- 95–97% of ectopic pregnancies occur in the fallopian tube, of which, 55–80% in the ampulla, 12–25% in the isthmus, and 5–17% in the fimbria.
- One risk factor for a tubal pregnancy is impaired movement of the fertilized ovum to the uterine cavity due to dysfunction of the tubal cilia, scarring, or narrowing of the tubal lumen.
- Other locations are rare but may occur from reimplantation of an aborted tubal pregnancy or from uterine structural abnormalities (mainly cervical pregnancy).
Risk Factors
- History of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometritis, or current gonorrhea/chlamydia infection
- Previous ectopic pregnancy
- History of tubal surgery (~33% of pregnancies after tubal ligation will be ectopic)
- Pelvic adhesive disease (infection or prior surgery)
- Use of an intrauterine device (IUD): IUD reduces absolute risk of ectopic pregnancy, but there is an increased likelihood of ectopic location if pregnancy occurs.
- Use of assisted reproductive technologies
- Maternal diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure in utero (DES was last used in 1972)
- Tobacco use
- Patients with disorders that affect ciliary motility may be at increased risk (e.g., endometriosis, Kartagener).
General Prevention
- Reliable contraception or abstinence
- Screening for and treatment of STIs (i.e., gonorrhea, chlamydia) that can cause PID and tubal scarring
-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please log in or purchase a subscription --
Basics
Description
Ectopic: pregnancy implanted outside the uterine cavity. Subtypes include:
- Tubal: pregnancy implanted in any portion of the fallopian tube
- Abdominal: pregnancy implanted intra-abdominally, most commonly after tubal abortion or rupture of tubal ectopic pregnancy
- Heterotopic: pregnancy implanted intrauterine and a separate pregnancy implanted outside uterine cavity
- Ovarian: implantation of pregnancy in ovarian tissue
- Cervical: implantation of pregnancy in cervix
- Intraligamentary: implantation of pregnancy within the broad ligament
Epidemiology
Incidence- The true incidence is difficult to estimate. Incidence is likely between about 6 and 20 per 1,000 pregnancies in the United States. About 1 in 10 1st trimester pregnancies presenting to the emergency with pain and/or bleeding are due to ectopic pregnancy.
- In the United States, ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of 1st trimester maternal deaths.
- Heterotopic pregnancy, although rare (1:30,000), occurs with greater frequency in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) (1/1,000).
- Increasing incidence of nontubal, and particularly cesarean scar ectopic pregnancies, due in part to more cesarean sections and more IVF
Prevalence
~33% recurrence rate if prior ectopic pregnancy
Etiology and Pathophysiology
- 95–97% of ectopic pregnancies occur in the fallopian tube, of which, 55–80% in the ampulla, 12–25% in the isthmus, and 5–17% in the fimbria.
- One risk factor for a tubal pregnancy is impaired movement of the fertilized ovum to the uterine cavity due to dysfunction of the tubal cilia, scarring, or narrowing of the tubal lumen.
- Other locations are rare but may occur from reimplantation of an aborted tubal pregnancy or from uterine structural abnormalities (mainly cervical pregnancy).
Risk Factors
- History of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometritis, or current gonorrhea/chlamydia infection
- Previous ectopic pregnancy
- History of tubal surgery (~33% of pregnancies after tubal ligation will be ectopic)
- Pelvic adhesive disease (infection or prior surgery)
- Use of an intrauterine device (IUD): IUD reduces absolute risk of ectopic pregnancy, but there is an increased likelihood of ectopic location if pregnancy occurs.
- Use of assisted reproductive technologies
- Maternal diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure in utero (DES was last used in 1972)
- Tobacco use
- Patients with disorders that affect ciliary motility may be at increased risk (e.g., endometriosis, Kartagener).
General Prevention
- Reliable contraception or abstinence
- Screening for and treatment of STIs (i.e., gonorrhea, chlamydia) that can cause PID and tubal scarring
There's more to see -- the rest of this entry is available only to subscribers.