Recent advances in the understanding of tubal ectopic pregnancy

Heather C Flanagan; W Colin Duncan; Chih-Jen Lin; Norah Spears; Andrew W Horne

doi:10.12703/r/12-26

Recent advances in the understanding of tubal ectopic pregnancy

Fac Rev. 2023 Nov 1:12:26. doi: 10.12703/r/12-26. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Heather C Flanagan^{1

2}, W Colin Duncan¹, Chih-Jen Lin¹, Norah Spears², Andrew W Horne¹

Affiliations

¹ MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.
² Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Abstract

Ectopic pregnancy (EP) is described as the implantation of an embryo outside the normal uterine cavity. It most commonly occurs in the fallopian tube, hence termed a tubal ectopic pregnancy (tEP). It is a gynaecological emergency and remains the leading cause of direct maternal mortality related to the first trimester of pregnancy worldwide. This article explores the emergence of additional risk factors for tEP, showing new evidence for identifying patient risk factors and highlighting potential areas of research. Additionally, we discuss the up-to-date patient-centred approach for the diagnosis, management and counselling of patients with tEP and ongoing clinical trials for the improvement of medical management.

Keywords: Ectopic pregnancy; clinical treatment; laparoscopic salpingectomy; methotrexate; risk factors; ultrasound.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a UK Medical Research Council Centre Grant (to AH, NS, CJL, WCD; MR/N022556/1, 2018-22) and a joint Medical Research Council/Ectopic Pregnancy Trust PhD Fellowship to HF.