Negative histology in surgically managed tubal ectopic pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: To determine the rate of negative histology following salpingectomy for suspected ectopic pregnancy.

Methods: A retrospective case series in a university hospital in the southwest of England was carried out. The records of all patients who had a salpingectomy for suspected ectopic pregnancy between January 2007 and December 2012 were reviewed. The primary outcome was the histology result.

Results: In total, 359 salpingectomies were performed for suspected ectopic pregnancy over 6 years. On histologic examination, 4.7% of fallopian tubes did not have evidence of an implantation site or trophoblastic tissue. When the macroscopic appearance of the fallopian tube was correlated with the surgical findings (e.g., rupture with large hemoperitoneum) and follow-up notes were reviewed thoroughly, the histology of 0.84% of all salpingectomies was not consistent with a tubal ectopic pregnancy.

Conclusions: True negative histology for surgically managed ectopic pregnancy is less than 1%.

Keywords: ectopic pregnancy; histopathology; laparoscopy; salpingectomy.