Objective: To report a case of successful treatment of a heterotopic cervical pregnancy from IVF-embryo transfer and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) that resulted in uterine varices at the cervical site.
Design: Case report.
Setting: Tertiary university clinical center.
Patient(s): A 34-year-old with a history of infertility associated with oligospermia who developed a heterotopic cervical pregnancy diagnosed at 7 weeks gestation.
Intervention(s): Transvaginal ultrasound (TVS)-guided aspiration of the cervical pregnancy; preoperative placement of bilateral hypogastric artery occlusion balloons; cesarean section.
Main outcome measure(s): Successful delivery of intrauterine pregnancy; conservation of the uterus.
Result(s): Successful termination of the cervical site pregnancy was achieved with TVS-guided aspiration. However, the pregnancy was then complicated by development of uterine varices at the cervical site noted on serial obstetric ultrasounds and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Successful management of the pregnancy required a multidisciplinary approach and preoperative placement of bilateral hypogastric artery occlusion balloons. A scheduled high fundal classic cesarean section at 37 weeks allowed for safe delivery of a healthy infant. Complete spontaneous resolution of the uterine varices was noted after the delivery.
Conclusion(s): It is unclear whether residual ectopic tissue contributed to this later complication; however, it cannot be ignored that the locations of the aborted site and the prominence of dilated venous vasculature in this same location suggests a correlation. The interventions applied are reasonable conservative treatments of a cervical heterotopic pregnancy and a management strategy for uterine varices.