An investigation of the time trends, risk factors, role of ultrasonic preoperative diagnosis of 79 ovarian pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Ovarian pregnancy (OP) is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy and is still a medical challenge. Therefore, more studies about the time trends, risk factors and diagnostic measurements are needed for the efficient treatment of OP.

Methods: The datum of OP patients who were treated at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from 2003 to 2018 was collected and a retrospective cohort study was preformed between OP and tubal pregnancy.

Results: 79 of all 6943 ectopic pregnancy (1.14%) were OP. The prevalence of OP following assisted reproductive technology showed an increasing trend over time, from 8.33% to 15.22%. Previous abdominal surgery was one of the risk factors of OP (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.18-0.95, p = 0.04). Merely 2 (2.53%) patients were sonographically diagnosed as OP accorded with their discharge diagnosis. However, 56 (80.0%) accumulation of blood in the pelvis formed echo free areas could be clearly found by ultrasonography. A significant difference was found in serum β-hCG level among OP patients and tubal pregnancy patients (2762.73 ± 1915.24 mmol/L vs 1034.20 ± 915.32 mmol/L, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The prevalence of OP following assisted reproductive technology is on the rise. History of abdominal surgery may be a high risk factor for OP patients who have the tendency of high β-hCG levels. The ultrasonic preoperative diagnosis is conductive to the early diagnosis of OP though the diagnosis accuracy is low.

Keywords: Assisted reproductive technology; Ectopic pregnancy; Ovarian pregnancy; Risk factor; Tubal pregnancy; Ultrasonic.