Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the application of ultrasound elastography in the assessment of methotrexate (MTX) treatment for tubal pregnancy and the association with the elasticity score and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) concentration.
Methods: A total of 73 cases of unruptured tubal pregnancy were diagnosed and treated systemically with MTX. The sonographic characters of conventional transvaginal sonography and elastography and serum hCG concentrations before and after MTX therapy were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed.
Results: The mean elasticity score was statistically significantly lower for the ectopic tubal masses of the success group (mean ± SD, 2.58 ± 0.68) than for the failure group (3.33 ± 0.47) on day 7 (P < .001) and similar on day 0. The median elasticity score for the success group on day 7 was 3, and for the failure group, it was 4. When elasticity scores of 3 and 2 were used for the criterion of successful MTX treatment, the elastography had 94.5% sensitivity, 61.1% specificity, 88.1% positive predictive value, and 78.6% negative predictive value. Elastography of the ectopic masses and subsequent hCG concentration at 1 week after the MTX injection in the success group had a strong relationship.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that transvaginal elastography was a useful tool in the evaluation of tubal pregnancy after pharmacologic management.
Keywords: elastography; gynecology; methotrexate; tubal pregnancy.
© 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.