Ectopic pregnancy. A recent five-year study and review of the last 50 years' literature.

OBJECTIVE : To compare the past and current clinical and pathologic factors that are responsible for ectopic pregnancy (EP). STUDY DESIGN : We performed a retrospective chart and histopathologic specimen review of 740 cases of EP during a recent, five-year period. Products of conception, as well as 240 cases of concomitant endometrial biopsies, were examined. RESULTS : The mean age at presentation, proportion of patients with a history of pelvic inflammatory disease, voluntary interruption of pregnancy (VIP), previous surgery and laterality (right side) of the tubal EP were similar to rates reported in previous studies. Ninety-four percent of the EPs were tubal, and 90% of the tubes exhibited some pathologic changes, including chronic salpingitis (49.5%) and follicular salpingitis (10%), among others. Gestational endometrial patterns were seen in 44% of cases. The corpus luteum of pregnancy was contralateral in 30% of cases in which an ovarian biopsy was performed. CONCLUSION : The factors classically associated with EP remained similar over a period of about 50 years, although the association with VIP still appears to be controversial. Endometrial curettage alone cannot be used to exclude an EP. Ovum transmigration may play a role in the genesis of EP.