A review of 254 ectopic pregnancies in a teaching hospital in the Trent Region, 1977–1990

A total of 254 cases of ectopic pregnancy were reviewed in a teaching hospital in Sheffield, in three defined periods: I, 1977-9; II, 1985-7 and III, 1988-90. A previous history of infertility was noted in 37% of cases. Overall, the presenting symptoms, clinical, laboratory, operative as well as histological findings, are in broad agreement with other series. The incidence increased steadily from 8.6 per 1000 total births in period I to 16.5 per 1000 total births in period III. A number of changes noted in recent years include: (1) the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy was made significantly (P less than 0.05) earlier; (2) a significantly (P less than 0.05) greater proportion of ectopic pregnancies had an association with the following factors: previous tubal surgery, the diagnosis established with ultrasonography, laparotomy preceded by laparoscopy and treatment by conservative surgery; and (3) a significantly (P less than 0.05) smaller proportion of ectopic pregnancies had the diagnosis based on pelvic tenderness or pelvic mass. During the period 1988-90 a total of 126 laparoscopies were performed for suspected ectopic pregnancy, of which 82 (65%) were confirmed to have ectopic pregnancy and 44 (35%) were thought to have no evidence of ectopic pregnancy on laparoscopy. However, two of the latter cases were subsequently found to have an ectopic pregnancy within 2 weeks. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.