title: Mirror image artifact mimicking heterotopic pregnancy on transvaginal ultrasound: case series.
abstract: Vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy is a common emergency department complaint. Point-of-care ultrasound is a useful tool to evaluate for intrauterine ectopic pregnancy. Emergency physicians performing these studies need to be cognizant of artifacts produced by ultrasound technology, as they can lead to misdiagnosis. We present two cases where mirror-image artifacts initially led to a concern for heterotopic pregnancies but were excluded on further imaging.
authors.affiliation: North Shore University Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Manhasset, New York.
authors.forename: Radhika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.affiliation: North Shore University Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Manhasset, New York.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bramante
authors.affiliation: UPMC Shadyside Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radomski
authors.affiliation: North Shore University Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Manhasset, New York.
authors.forename: Mathew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016477:Artifacts; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011247:Pregnancy; D063192:Pregnancy, Heterotopic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging