Ectopic Pregnancy Part 1

We’re going to begin with ectopic pregnancy, which I think is a particularly excellent board examination question. This is the ultrasound equivalent to a tension pneumothorax.

If you blow the tension pneumothorax on a chest exam, you can plan on a repeat trip back to Kentucky the next year for your Boards, and if you blow the ectopic pregnancy on the sonogram exam than you’re in serious trouble.

So, this is a very important aspect of sonography.

There are among women, groups that are particularly high risk for an ectopic pregnancy. Women who have had a previous ectopic pregnancy have about a 10% recurrence risk.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) of course is the principal pathophysiologic reason why women ended up getting ectopic pregnancies, and IUD plus pregnancy.

These are women who you will see having sonograms even when they’re asymptomatic.

Ordinarily a woman who is suspected of having an ectopic pregnancy is symptomatic, so these patients are referred to rule out ectopic pregnancy, even at a time when they are asymptomatic.

But the rule to remember is that any woman of child bearing age is at risk to harbor an ectopic pregnancy.

In part two we will go over methodology for a suspected ectopic pregnancy.
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Author: Roy A. Filly, MD
Excerpted from:
Diagnostic Imaging Review: For Residents, Fellows and Radiologists
Female Pelvis Section