CA-125 levels in ruptured and unruptured tubal ectopic pregnancies.
OBJECTIVE
This prospective, single-blind and controlled clinical study aimed to research if CA-125 levels could be a useful test in the differential diagnosis of intact and ruptured tubal ectopic pregnancy.


METHODS
Sixty-five women with tubal ectopic pregnancy of 5-10 weeks' duration (27 women with ruptured tubal ectopic pregnancy [REP] and 38 women with unruptured tubal ectopic pregnancy [UREP]) and 65 women with normal intrauterine pregnancy (NIUP) of the same gestational age were studied prospectively. Serum CA-125 levels were measured in all women and these levels were compared among the REP, UREP, and NIUP groups.


RESULTS
The mean CA-125 levels didn't show any significant difference between the REP and NIUP groups (P > 0.05). The mean CA-125 levels of these two groups were higher than that in the UREP group (P < 0.01, P < 0.001, respectively). The dispersion ratios of the CA-125 levels had a statistically significant difference between the REP and UREP groups (chi(2): 42.44, P < 0.0001). CA-125 levels weren't correlated with gestational weeks in the REP and UREP groups (r: 0.005, P > 0.05; r: 0.008, P > 0.05, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
In intact tubal ectopic pregnancies, expectant or managed with medical treatment, the increase of CA-125 levels in the serial measurements could be a supplementary test for an early diagnosis of tubal rupture.
Malatyalioglu
Erdal
E
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Ondokuz Mayis, Samsun, Turkey. halukem@yahoo.com
Ozer
Sinan
S
Kokcu
Arif
A
Cetinkaya
Mehmet B
MB
Alper
Tayfun
T
Tosun
Migraci
M
D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011274:Pregnancy, Tubal / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D018394:CA-125 Antigen