Programmed cell death by apoptosis occurs in fetal and maternal tissues during early pregnancy and plays an important role during implantation, decidualization, and in fetal development. In the regulation of apoptosis, bcl-2 is one of the central controlling genes, and acts by protecting the cell against apoptosis. It is postulated ...

Persistent trophoblastic activity after salpingostomy for ectopic pregnancy implies the presence of intra-abdominal trophoblastic tissue, usually within the fallopian tube. We report a case of disseminated trophoblastic peritoneal implants, presenting as hemoperitoneum three weeks after laparoscopic salpingectomy. Only 23 such cases have been reported. Surgical treatment of ectopic pregnancy, especially ...

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine the utility of measuring serum leukemia inhibitory factor, a cytokine expressed in the process of pregnancy implantation, for the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: Serum samples from 40 patients with positive serum quantitative beta-human chorionic gonadotropin levels were used for leukemia inhibitory factor ...

BACKGROUND: Intramural ectopic pregnancy is unusual, difficult to diagnose, and associated with a high rate of uterine rupture. CASE: A 35-year-old, gravida 3, para 0-0-2-0 was diagnosed with intramural ectopic pregnancy by ultrasound showing a gestational sac surrounded completely by myometrium. It was confirmed by laparoscopy. With expectant management, the ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of endometrial arterial flow in the exclusion of ectopic pregnancy. From October 1997 to June 1999, 66 women with elevated beta-human chorionic gonadotropin titers and clinical indications of ectopic pregnancy were evaluated by endovaginal sonography. Women with a gestational sac ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the fertility prognosis after conservative or radical surgery for ectopic pregnancy. Also, to identify any biological factors that may influence the fertility outcome after an ectopic pregnancy. METHODS: A retrospective study which was carried out by collating information from the patient's ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the time to diagnosis and treatment of patients with ruptured ectopic pregnancy is significantly less for patients who had emergency department (ED) right upper quadrant (RUQ) ultrasound (US) compared with those who had US in the radiology department. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective review of ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare six published methods of diagnosing ectopic pregnancy. METHODS: Decision analysis compared six diagnostic algorithms involving combinations of clinical examination, transvaginal ultrasound, serum progesterone, serum hCG, and D&C. The population was composed of hemodynamically stable women who presented to a tertiary care university emergency department with abdominal pain ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine pregnancy rates after laparoscopic salpingostomy in occlusive distal tubal disease. To evaluate the relative impact of various historical, physical, and operative factors on pregnancy outcome using a multivariate statistical analysis. DESIGN: Prospective cohort. SETTING: University-affiliated tertiary care infertility clinic. PATIENT(S): One hundred thirty-nine infertile women with occlusive ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reproductive outcome after ectopic pregnancy and to assess the contribution of risk factors to future fertility. DESIGN: Prospective follow-up in a population-based sample. SETTING: Register of ectopic pregnancies established in an urban area around Lille, France. PATIENT(S): Three hundred and twenty-eight women treated between April 1994 ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if implementation of a non-invasive diagnostic work up of patients with suspected ectopic pregnancy, involving transvaginal sonography and serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) measurement decreases the likelihood of performing diagnostic laparoscopies. STUDY DESIGN: We interviewed 27 Dutch gynaecologists using 16 structured case summaries in a fractional factorial ...

PURPOSE: To determine whether the photopic negative response (PhNR) of the electroretinogram (ERG) is reduced in patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). METHODS: ERGs were recorded with DTL electrodes from 62 normal subjects (16 to 82 years), 18 POAG patients (47 to 83 years) and 7 POAG suspects (46 ...

The classic triad of fever, headache, and characteristic rash occurring 1 to 2 weeks after a tick bite in an endemic area should raise suspicions for Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). All providers with primary care responsibility for women should be familiar with the diagnosis and treatment of this illness. ...

Paroxysmal AF has been known to be initiated by ectopic beats, especially in the pulmonary veins (PVs), and radiofrequency catheter ablation could cure it. We considered that the spontaneous transition from typical atrial flutter to AF also could be initiated by ectopic beats. Twenty patients (18 men, mean age 66 ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine if tubal rupture rates are decreased when a strict diagnostic algorithm is employed in the evaluation of women with suspected ectopic pregnancy as compared to individualized diagnostic methods. STUDY DESIGN: Between 1994 and 1996, a group of investigators at Charleston Area Medical Center employed a strict diagnostic ...

OBJECTIVE: Classical growth hormone insensitivity syndrome (GHIS) comprises a dysmorphic phenotype, extreme short stature (height SDS < 3), normal GH and low IGF-I and IGFBP-3. Wide clinical variation is recognised with classical and atypical forms. We aimed to delineate features of the milder "atypical" GHIS phenotype, and to determine whether ...

A case of 35 year old gravida 4 para 2(+1) woman with heterotopic pregnancy is presented. She had total salpingectomy for the ectopic pregnancy and spontaneous vaginal delivery of a 3.25 kg live female infant of the intrauterine pregnancy. The need to maintain a high index of suspicion and to ...

During the period from 1995 to 1999, 64 patients were treated for ectopic pregnancy. All patients admitted to the department passed the same procedure including (complete preoperative laboratory findings, Beta HCG, serum progesterone and transvaginal colour Doppler). In patients who had ultrasound finding typical for ectopic pregnancy in combination with ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the factors that influence the reproductive performance in patients who had previous salpingectomy by laparotomy for ectopic pregnancy in the South-west Region of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: Fifty four patients who had pregnancies following salpingectomy for previous ectopic pregnancy were studied retrospectively at Abha Maternity Hospital in the ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the long-term safety of nonsurgical sterilization with quinacrine. DESIGN: Observational cohort study. SETTING: Rural provinces in northern Vietnam. PATIENT(S): Two thousand eight hundred forty women who had had quinacrine insertions and an age-matched comparison group of 1,658 women who had an intrauterine device (IUD) insertion between 1989 ...

Determining the prognosis in nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is complicated by several factors: under-recognition of NCSE with its spontaneous resolution (thus decreasing the "denominator" of total cases that will have a poor outcome); incorrect diagnosis of NCSE based on misinterpretation of EEG "epileptiform" activity; mis-classification of certain EEG patterns as ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of positive pregnancy test on the day of laparoscopic sterilisation. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal observational study. SETTING: Gynaecology unit in a UK teaching hospital. SAMPLE: Between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 1998, eight hundred and two consecutive women were admitted for laparoscopic sterilisation after assessment ...

This review addresses recent publications that investigate etiology, epidemiology and different modalities in diagnosis and therapy for ectopic pregnancy. A significant proportion of recent work has focused in the development of new diagnostic tools to aid in the early detection of ectopic pregnancy. Diagnostic modalities have included systemic and local ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of different management strategies for ectopic pregnancy on fertility. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of 180 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with ectopic pregnancy between September 1988 and December 1995. The fertility rate after ectopic pregnancy treated with surgery was compared with that after expectant ...

Diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy continues to be an important challenge facing emergency physicians. The authors present a case of bilateral tubal ectopic pregnancy and discuss its clinical features and diagnostic difficulties. A review of the English-language literature on the subject is discussed. Suggestions are made on ways to increase diagnostic ...

This investigation was designed to evaluate the utility of maternal creatine phosphokinase (CPK) in predicting the presence of an ectopic pregnancy (EP) in an emergency department (ED) setting. Twenty-one patients with the diagnosis of EP were randomly matched (1:1) with pregnant patients who subsequently ruled-out for EP. Serum CPK values ...

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence suggests that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs) are crucial for trophoblast implantation in normal pregnancy. To evaluate the expression of MMP-1, MMP2, and the tissue inhibitor of MMP-2 (TIMP-2) along the invasive pathway of trophoblast in ruptured and non-ruptured tubal ectopic pregnancies, we performed a ...

The goal of this study was to model the incidence of ectopic pregnancy and spontaneous abortion if pregnant women in the first 20 weeks of gestation were to remain aboard ship while at sea during deployments. Ectopic pregnancies and other pregnancy complications at sea can be life-threatening events. Data sources ...

The aim of this study was to elucidate the clinical presentation of ectopic pregnancy in the emergency department and highlight the atypical presentations and pitfalls in its diagnosis. This was a 4-year retrospective descriptive study carried out at a tertiary teaching hospital. Two hundred and seven cases of ectopic pregnancy ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have suggested that serum markers of smooth muscle destruction have utility in predicting ectopic pregnancy. Our goal was to determine whether a novel marker of muscle destruction, smooth muscle heavy-chain myosin (SMHC), is elevated in the serum of patients with ectopic pregnancy. METHODS: We conducted a ...

The authors report a case of a 27-year-old female who was diagnosed as having a ruptured ectopic pregnancy approximately 12 hours after an elective termination of an intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) was performed. Multiple previous evaluations by an obstetrician for a chief complaint of abdominal pain revealed an IUP but did ...

Ectopic pregnancy is a rare phenomenon in mammals. The most common localization is an oviduct, ovary and abdominal cavity. Confirmation of the ectopic pregnancy is always a difficult medical problem. The diagnosis is mainly based on the patient's history and gynecological examination. This paper concerns a case report of cornual ...

A ruptured ectopic pregnancy is always an emergency. The key to successful treatment is early diagnosis, which is not always easy, mainly because typical presenting features may be absent. We report a case of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy that presented with a gastroenteritis illness together with hyperglycaemia, leading to an ...

The liberal use of ultrasonography has been advocated in patients with first trimester cramping or bleeding to avoid misdiagnosis of ectopic pregnancy in the emergency department (ED). The cost-effectiveness of different approaches to ultrasound availability has not been previously reported. In this study, we investigated measures of quality and cost-effectiveness ...

Improvements in the use of ultrasound in early pregnancy have resulted in improved diagnosis of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. There are still, however, a significant number of women with a suspected abnormal pregnancy, where transvaginal ultrasound is unable to locate the pregnancy. The concern is the possibility of ectopic pregnancy. ...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis in women presenting with ectopic pregnancies to Groote Schuur Hospital. METHODS: C. trachomatis antibody titres were measured using a modified micro-immunofluorescence test in women presenting with ectopic pregnancy. Control subjects were drawn from women with term pregnancies and an uneventful ...

Cervical ectopic pregnancy is the rarest form of ectopic gestation. Viable cervical ectopic pregnancies of 10 weeks' gestation or more are even rarer. It is unclear whether these advanced cervical ectopic gestations should be managed primarily by surgical evacuation or by more conservative medical management with chemotherapeutic agents. Cases of ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between specific histologic features and cytogenetic abnormalities in ectopic pregnancies. DESIGN: Blinded histologic analysis. SETTING: University hospital. PATIENT(s): Fifty-four patients with ectopic pregnancy for whom successful karyotypes and sufficient histologic material were available. INTERVENTION(s): Histologic evaluation of chorionic villi from ectopic pregnancies was done by ...

Microlaparoscopy is a development of endoscopic surgery which further reduces invasiveness of surgical procedures. The use of a diode laser in microlaparoscopy for the treatment of a patient with an intact ectopic pregnancy and endometriosis is described for the first time. As the diode laser has easy management and widely ...

We describe cumulative pregnancy probabilities among women who underwent quinacrine pellet sterilization in Chile between 1977 and 1989 (N = 1492). We interviewed the women or relatives in 1991-93 and 1994-96, and reviewed hospital records. Mean follow-up was 9.6 years (median 9 years). We recorded 120 pregnancies, including 40 that ...

We wanted to evaluate the utility of seven biochemical markers in the early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. Women with pain and bleeding suspicious for ectopic pregnancy were evaluated prospectively. Each woman had a transvaginal sonogram and serum determination of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG), progesterone, estradiol (E2), creatine phosphokinase (CPK), CA-125, ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors influencing the choice of treatment for ectopic pregnancy and to compare the subsequent fertility rates of radical, conservative-surgical or medical treatments. DESIGN: Population-based study of 835 ectopic pregnancies registered between 1992 and 1996. SETTING: Auvergne Ectopic Pregnancy Register (France). SAMPLE: Four hundred and seventy-six women ...

Patients with ectopic pregnancy complicated by heavy hemoperitoneum generally undergo immediate laparotomy, and homologous blood transfusion is sometimes started before the operation. Two women underwent laparoscopic surgery for heavy hemoperitoneum (2600 and 1900 ml) due to ectopic pregnancy. The aspirated blood was reinfused during operation through a leukocyte-reduction filter after ...

Pelvic inflammatory disease rarely complicates pregnancy. Although few in number, most of the previously reported cases have resulted in spontaneous abortion or intrauterine fetal demise. At 5 weeks gestation, a 20 year old gravida 2 para 1 underwent uterine curettage and diagnostic laparoscopy for a suspected ectopic gestation. Seventeen days ...

We analysed the early implantation tissues of normal women and of a patient with congenital factor XIII deficiency in order to study the role of maternal subunit A of factor XIII (XIIIA) in the development of extravillous cytotrophoblast. The patient had received adequate administration of factor XIIIA concentrate only up ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of ectopic pregnancy in Abha, in the south-western region of Saudi Arabia and to evaluate the relevance of the known risk factors. METHODS: Eighty-two women with histologically confirmed ectopic pregnancies, managed in Abha Maternity Hospital over a three-and-a-half year period, were retrospectively studied. RESULTS: The ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the incidence of ectopic pregnancy over the period 1966 to 1996. SETTING: England and Wales. DESIGN: Use of official statistics on hospital discharges, maternities, legal abortions and estimated populations of women aged 15-44 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence rates of ectopic pregnancies. RESULTS: Between 1966 to 1970 ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to evaluate factors that may predispose to rupture of tubal ectopic pregnancy. The study included 99 cases of ectopic pregnancies that were treated during the 5-year period 1992-1996. RESULTS: It was found that: (1) tubal rupture is encountered more often in women with ...

Ectopic pregnancy occurs in approximately 2% of all pregnancies in the United States, and is the nation's leading cause of first trimester maternal death. Its incidence has increased sixfold in the past 25 years, despite significant improvements in techniques for early diagnosis and management. This article reviews the epidemiology, risk ...

Due to a combination of increasing public awareness and improved diagnostic techniques, women now present to the clinician early in pregnancy. The majority of women with an ectopic pregnancy are haemodynamically stable. This enables the gynaecologist to consider several management options, such as expectant, medical or laparoscopic surgical treatment rather ...