Chronic ectopic pregnancy. A comparison with acute ectopic pregnancy.
An ectopic tubal pregnancy that undergoes repeated minor ruptures instead of a single episode of rapid bleeding frequently develops into a pelvic hematocele. The hematocele, which contains old blood, clots and gestational tissue, is surrounded by adhesions and is misleadingly called a "chronic" ectopic pregnancy. The term "chronic" describes only the appearance of the pelvic mass and does not necessarily imply chronicity of duration. Its incidence was 28% in our series of 149 ectopic pregnancies. Fifty percent of our patients with chronic ectopic pregnancy had a negative serum beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). This entity has a sonographic appearance distinctly different from acute ectopic pregnancy.
D000208:Acute Disease; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D011271:Pregnancy, Ectopic / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013781:Texas; D014463:Ultrasonography
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human; D010446:Peptide Fragments