Conservative management of cervical pregnancy with embryonic heart activity by ultrasound-guided local injection: an eight case series

A Systematic Review about Cervical Pregnancy and our Experience

Background

Cervical ectopic pregnancy is a relatively rare type of ectopic pregnancy and has no standardized guidelines for management.

Methods

This systematic review is based on the collection of case reports, published in PubMed/MEDLINE about the resolution of ectopic cervical pregnancies over the last decade and the presentation of a case managed in our healthcare unit. Studies involving cervical pregnancy in the first trimester with the presence of a viable embryo and β-hCG in the serum below 100.000 mIU/mL were included, while heterotopic pregnancies were excluded.

Results

Nineteen articles reporting twenty-three case reports are demonstrated explicitly emphasizing on the management techniques. There is no established approach for the management of this type of ectopic pregnancy.

Conclusion

It is important to consider the conservative approaches as first-line treatment in all cases of cervical pregnancy preserving fertility. Minimally invasive methods are also described and preferred as second-line treatment, as reported in our literature review.

Combination of conservative treatment and temporary bilateral laparoscopic uterine artery clipping with hysteroscopic transcervical resection for cervical pregnancy: A retrospective study

INTRODUCTION

We investigated whether temporary bilateral laparoscopic uterine artery clipping with hysteroscopic transcervical resection (LUA clipping-TCR) is an effective minimally invasive treatment for the management of cervical pregnancy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study is a retrospective clinical case series conducted at Teine Keijinkai Hospital from January 2014 to June 2019. Nine cervical pregnancies among 164 ectopic pregnancies were retrospectively examined. The intervention involved performing LUA clipping-TCR on villous tissue. Information on patient characteristics, clinical data, and surgical details was collected from medical records and surgical videos.

RESULTS

The mean (range) age of the patients was 33 years (29-41 years); and mean gestational sac diameter, 12.8 mm (5-24 mm). Five patients had a history of intrauterine procedures. Three patients had a positive fetal heartbeat. The mean (range) preoperative serum hCG level (mIU/mL), surgical time (min), uterine artery blocking time (min), and amount of surgical blood loss (ml) were 14,040 (2880-41,367), 82 (62-120), 42 (21-68), and 57 (10-200), respectively. The mean decrease in serum hCG level (second postoperative day) and duration until resumption of menstruation were 79.7 % (70-86.7 %) and 46 days (35-80 days), respectively. The hospitalization period was 2-3 days, with no evidence of persistent ectopic pregnancy. Live birth was achieved in four cases.

DISCUSSION

Our results confirm previous findings and provide new evidence that LUA clipping-TCR is effective for cervical pregnancy management and fertility preservation, respectively. Future large-scale prospective studies to compare different cervical pregnancy management methods are required.

The treatment of cervical pregnancy with high-intensity focused ultrasound followed by suction curettage: report of three cases

OBJECTIVE

Cervical pregnancy (CP) is a rare type of ectopic pregnancy and is considered to be a life-threatening condition due to the risk of severe hemorrhage. Unfortunately, no consensus on standard conservative treatment for CP has been established. The study objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) followed by suction curettage for cervical pregnancy.

METHOD

Three patients with cervical pregnancy undergoing high-intensity focused ultrasound followed by suction curettage were analyzed. Patient age, gestational age, endocervical mass, serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) level, blood loss, and time for normal menstruation recovery were recorded.

RESULTS

Three patients with cervical pregnancy were successfully treated with HIFU followed by suction curettage. After HIFU treatment, the fetal cardiac activity disappeared or the blood flow in the pregnancy tissue significantly decreased. The termination of the cervical pregnancy of all three patients was performed successfully without heavy bleeding. The estimated blood loss was 10-20 ml. The time for menstruation recovery was 30-45 days. No obvious complications of HIFU were observed in these cases.

CONCLUSION

High-intensity focused ultrasound followed by suction curettage seems to be considered as conservative management for patients who desire to preserve their uterus.

Treatment of cervical pregnancy with ultrasound-guided local methotrexate injection

OBJECTIVES

Cervical pregnancy (CP) is a rare type of ectopic pregnancy. While methotrexate (MTX) is generally the first-line method of choice for clinically stable women, there is still no consensus on the most appropriate treatment for this abnormal pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a single local MTX injection under transvaginal ultrasound guidance for the initial treatment of CP and to assess post-treatment fertility.

METHODS

We reviewed retrospectively 15 patients with CP treated with local MTX injection under transvaginal ultrasound guidance. In all patients, the serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels were monitored and the gestational sac was evaluated using ultrasonography after treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed as necessary. We evaluated the patients' clinical characteristics and clinical course after treatment, the efficacy of the treatment and the post-treatment fertility in patients desiring subsequent pregnancy.

RESULTS

The median estimated gestational age at the time of MTX injection was 6 + 2 (range, 5 + 2 to 11 + 0) weeks. All 15 patients were treated successfully, without the need for blood transfusion or surgical procedures; however, three patients required an additional local MTX injection due to a poor decline in serum hCG level following the initial injection, while one patient required uterine artery embolization due to persistent vaginal bleeding and an enlarging gestational sac with blood vessels visible on contrast-enhanced MRI. The mean time following initial MTX injection for hCG normalization was 43.8 (95% CI, 33.3-54.3) days and for resumption of menses was 68.4 (95% CI, 51.9-84.9) days. Seven of the 10 women desiring subsequent pregnancy following treatment had uneventful pregnancy, one became pregnant but miscarried spontaneously at 8 weeks of gestation, one was treated by laparoscopic surgery after diagnosis of a tubal pregnancy and one did not conceive.

CONCLUSIONS

A single, ultrasound-guided, local MTX injection is apparently effective for the treatment of CP without the need for concomitant procedures or surgical intervention. Furthermore, this conservative technique both preserves fertility and allows for the possibility of subsequent uneventful pregnancy. Copyright © 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Conservative management of cervical ectopic pregnancy: Single-center experience

AIM

The aim of this study was to assess the results of conservative treatment of cervical ectopic pregnancy (CEP).

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed all cervical ectopic pregnancies diagnosed at the present department between January 2010 and July 2015. Patients with CEP who were treated with either systemic or intra-amniotic methotrexate (MTX) injection were included in the study.

RESULTS

Ten CEP patients were identified. Median maternal age was 33 years (range, 23-40 years). Median gestational age at diagnosis was 47 days (range, 44-58 days). Before treatment, overall mean serum beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin (β-hCG) was 29 706.9 ± 19 695.2 mIU/mL. Mean gestational sac size was 29.0 ± 6.24 mm. Eight patients had viable fetuses with detected cardiac activity. Six patients were treated primarily with systemic MTX, and four were treated with local MTX injection. One patient in the systemic MTX injection group was switched to local MTX treatment due to severe oral ulceration and increasing β-hCG titers after the fourth dose. One patient in the local treatment group had severe hemorrhage 7 days after local MTX. Three of six women achieved spontaneous pregnancy and gave birth to term, healthy infants after treatment.

CONCLUSION

Conservative treatment of CEP with both systemic and local MTX is generally successful with regard to maternal morbidity and reproductive function, but these patients must be closely followed due to the small but real risk of late hemorrhage.

Hysteroscopic management of a heterotopic pregnancy following uterine artery embolization: a case report

Background

Intra-uterine pregnancy coexisting with cervical pregnancy (heterotopic pregnancy) is a rare condition and its management is challenging because of the massive bleeding associated with cervical pregnancy. Uterine artery embolization followed by hysteroscopic removal of cervical and intra-uterine products of conception can theoretically prevent massive bleeding and provide a direct view during the removal. Hysteroscopic management following uterine artery embolization of heterotopic pregnancy after in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer is rarely reported.

Case presentation

A 33-year-old primigravida, Asian, married, nonsmoker, nonalcoholic woman presented with heavy vaginal bleeding 3 weeks after in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer with a documented history of two embryo implantations in her uterine cavity. Transvaginal ultrasonography revealed a gestational sac of 15 mm × 9 mm × 9 mm with cardiac activity, showing a 3.0-mm-diameter yolk sac in the uterine cavity and a 15 mm × 11 mm × 8 mm gestational sac with cardiac activity, showing a 2.9-mm-diameter yolk sac in the cervical canal. The bilateral uterine artery embolization followed by hysteroscopic removal of both the gestational products was successfully performed after our patient and her family chose to give up the intra-uterine pregnancy due to the risk of heavy bleeding associated with cervical pregnancy.

Conclusions

Uterine artery embolization followed by hysteroscopic removal of cervical and intra-uterine gestational products in the first trimester is safe and feasible, while preserving future fertility.