Intramyometrial pregnancy after cryopreserved embryo transfer: a case report

Subserosal pregnancy: Systematic review with proposal of new diagnostic criteria and ectopic pregnancy classification

Ectopic pregnancy (EP) is a pregnancy where the growing blastocyst implants outside the endometrial cavity. EP account approximately for 0.5-1% of all pregnancies, and extrauterine implant is the leading cause of woman mortality in the first trimester of gestation. Non-tubal pregnancies (NTP) account for less than 5% of all EP. NTP are accompanied by a 7-8 times higher risk of maternal mortality when compared to tubal pregnancies, and their treatment might sometimes be very challenging. Subserosal pregnancy (SP) has been defined as rare variant of intramural pregnancy, where a portion of the gestational sac was surrounded only by the serosa of the uterus. Whereas the treatment of the ectopic pregnancies is crucial for patients' lives and for adequate fertility sparing and considering the need for surgical treatment in many cases, an early diagnosis is important; thus we believe it g might be useful to define some criteria to guide subserosal pregnancy identification, and to distinguish it from other types of non-tubal ectopic pregnancy. A systematic review on Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar was performed. Case reports, randomized controlled trials, prospective controlled studies, prospective cohort studies, retrospective studies, and case series were considered eligible. In all databases mentioned were considered manuscripts published from 1990 up to March 2023. Only four articles were eligible for inclusion in this review. All patients underwent to surgical management in laparoscopy. The main risk factors for this type of ectopic pregnancy were previous uterine surgery with opening of the endometrial cavity and assisted reproductive techniques procedures. Considering our results, we propose new classification and diagnostic criteria for subserosal pregnancy, to distinguish it from other types of non-tubal ectopic pregnancies with the aim to preserve fertility following the most correct management.

A detective of intramural ectopic pregnancy: The use of pituitrin under hysteroscopy combined with laparoscopy

RATIONALE

Intramural pregnancy is a rare ectopic pregnancy in which the gestational sac is implanted between the muscle walls. Due to the lack of specific clinical manifestations, it is easy to misdiagnose or miss them. If it is allowed to get worse, the uterus will burst, and there will be a lot of bleeding in the later stages, which could lead to the death of the patient.

PATIENT CONCERNS

The patient had no history of uterine surgery, embryo transplantation, or any other operations. She complained of having abdominal distention and swelling of the waist but no vaginal bleeding or lower abdomen discomfort.

DIAGNOSES

According to her transvaginal ultrasonography, we highly suspected ectopic pregnancy. Hysteroscopy combined with laparoscopy is an effective treatment option that can prevent life-threatening problems. During the surgery, pituitrin helped find the gestational sac, and the pathology report confirmed that it was an intramural pregnancy.

INTERVENTIONS

Hysteroscopy combined with laparoscopy is an effective treatment option that can prevent life-threatening problems. During the surgery, we used pituitrin to help find the gestational sac. The use of pituitrin can minimize bleeding during a uterine operation and indicate the location of an intramural pregnancy, helping surgeons to complete the operation successfully.

OUTCOMES

The patient recovered quickly and was discharged on the 4th day after surgery, with a significant decrease in human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) levels from 14,792.26 mIU/mL before surgery to 1071.40 mIU/mL at discharge. During the follow up, her HCG level dropped to 50.90 mIU/mL on the 14th day after the surgery. She monitored the HCG levels intermittently until they fell within the normal range.

LESSONS

Intramural pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy, and it is difficult to diagnose early on. This may result in uterine rupture or even life-threatening hemorrhage. If an intramural pregnancy is suspected in early pregnancy, hysteroscopy combined with laparoscopy is advised, and if necessary, low-dose posterior pituitary hormone can enhance uterine contractions and better reveal the position of the gestational sac within the uterine wall.

Misdiagnosis of intramural ectopic pregnancy and invasive gestational trophoblastic disease on ultrasound: A challenging case at Tu Du Hospital in Vietnam in COVID-19 pandemic peak and mini-review of literature

Differentiation between intramural ectopic pregnancy and molar ectopic pregnancy is very difficult because of their exceptional rarity. Herein, we present a misdiagnosed case of intramural pregnancy and invasive trophoblastic disease on ultrasound. A 45-year-old female patient was admitted to our tertiary referral hospital due to abdominal pain and unusual ultrasonography findings. Initially, a diagnosis of intramural ectopic pregnancy was identified based on transvaginal color Doppler ultrasonography, 3-dimensional ultrasound, and serial serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin, thus the patient underwent laparotomy with hysterectomy. However, the histopathological endpoint showed an invasive trophoblastic disease. Clinically, this pathology should be included in the differential diagnosis of intramural ectopic pregnancy since an imaging scan remains quite unclear.

Intramural Ectopic Pregnancy: Clinical Characteristics, Risk Factors for Uterine Rupture and Hysterectomy

Background: Intramural ectopic pregnancy is defined as the gestational sac (GS) is entirely within the myometrium, separate from the endometrial cavity and fallopian tubes, which is unsustainable and potentially life-threatening. The data investigating the clinical characteristics, management strategy, and fertility outcomes after treatment of intramural ectopic pregnancies are very limited due to its extreme rarity. Methods: To investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment options, and fertility outcomes in patients with intramural ectopic pregnancy, a retrospective study included 56 patients was conducted. We also used logistic regression to identify potential risk factors for uterine rupture and hysterectomy in these patients. Results: The mean age of patients was 31.1 years, with an average gestational age (GA) of 10.0 weeks, and the majority of the patient cohort (83.9%) had uterine or endometrial surgical history. 55.4% of the intramural pregnancy was diagnosed by preoperative imaging examination and 67.7% was detected by ultrasound. There was no dominant predisposed zone of the GS. Common treatment strategies included laparotomy surgery (41.1%) and laparoscopic surgery (35.7%), followed by methotrexate (7.1%) and expectant management (5.4%). Uterine rupture occurred in 9 patients and 8 patients underwent a hysterectomy, but no maternal demise was found. Logistic regression showed that a GA >10 weeks predicted a significantly higher risk of uterine rupture (Odds ratio [OR] 8.000, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.456-43.966, P = 0.017) and hysterectomy (OR 12.333, 95% CI 2.125-71.565, P = 0.005), and GS located in the fundus also predicted higher probability of uterine rupture (OR 7.000,95% CI 1.271-38.543, P = 0.025). Among the ten patients who had a desire for fertility, 6 of them succeeded and 4 of them successfully delivered with a GA ≥ 34 weeks. Conclusion: GA > 10 weeks was the risk factor for both uterine rupture and hysterectomy, while patients with GS located in the uterine fundus had a significantly higher risk of uterine rupture. The fertility outcomes were moderate after treatment. The management strategies should be individualized according to disease conditions and the desire for fertility, and early diagnosis is essential for optimizing clinical outcomes.