title: Ectopic pregnancy: duplex Doppler evaluation.
abstract: Of 398 patients in whom there was a clinical suspicion of ectopic pregnancy, 96 (24%) were found to have the condition. Of the 96, 70 underwent duplex Doppler imaging. A viable ectopic fetus was seen in 10 of 70 (14%), and an extrauterine sac without an identifiable fetus was seen in an additional 27, giving a sensitivity for imaging alone of 53%. Fetal heart activity was detected with Doppler in 13 (19%). High-velocity flow, which suggested the presence of an ectopic pregnancy, was detected in 38 of 70 (54%) patients (total preoperative sensitivity, 73%). In the 91 patients who did not have an ectopic pregnancy, duplex Doppler imaging of the intrauterine contents alone allowed an ectopic pregnancy to be excluded in 29 (32%) on the first examination and in a further 21 on the second scan (specificity, 55%). Nine vascular adnexal masses were falsely considered to be ectopic pregnancies (specificity, 90%). The positive predictive values were 47% for imaging alone and 85% for Doppler. The negative predictive values were 60% for imaging alone and 81% for Doppler.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Feyock
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Snower
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: De Cherney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011271:Pregnancy, Ectopic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography