title: Heterotopic pregnancy in a spontaneous cycle: do not forget about it!
abstract: Heterotopic pregnancies are estimated to be less frequent than 1:30000 if no assisted reproduction technologies (ART) are performed. After ART this entity is more frequent and in the range of 1:100. In the case reported here an ectopic pregnancy was detected in the right fallopian tube at 7+ 1 weeks of gestation. It was misdiagnosed as an ectopic singleton, and treated by laparoscopic salpingectomy, because of a previous ectopic in the same tube. Rising hCG after laparoscopy during the subsequent days followed by ultrasound evaluation revealed a viable intrauterine pregnancy. The pregnancy continued uneventfully and a healthy child was delivered at term. The problems, which lead to the misdiagnosis are discussed. The problem of rare cases in medicine, and the problems of a 'modern' medicine are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Medical University of Lübeck, Germany. ludwig_m@t-online.de
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaisi
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Diedrich
mesh_terms: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011274:Pregnancy, Tubal / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin