[Extrauterine pregnancy in Netherlands: patient characteristics, treatment, and pregnancy prognosis]

To determine the probability of pregnancy after a finished extrauterine pregnancy (EUP) and the length of time in between.

Prospective multicentric cohort study.

Of all patients with an EUP between May 1990 and October 1993, data were collected using a questionnaire from surgeons in five university hospitals and 30 general training and non-training hospitals. During the subsequent 3 years, the patients semi-annually reported on their pregnancy or wish to become pregnant using reply cards.

A total of 665 patients with an EUP were reported their mean age was 30.7 years (SD: 4.9). There were 341 patients who during the follow-up desired pregnancy, did not start an IVF procedure and supplied complete follow-up data 207 of them (61%) became pregnant after a median interval of 12 months. Age above 35, previous fertility problems, a Chlamydia antibody titre > or = 1:64 and adnexitis in the anamnesis were correlated with a longer interval until a subsequent pregnancy. The nature of the treatment (laparotomy versus laparoscopy, conservative versus radical and surgical versus pharmaceutical) did not affect the duration of the interval. If the contralateral tube was judged to be abnormal by the operator, pregnancy was still possible, but the occurrence of the pregnancy was delayed.

The probability of pregnancy after an earlier EUP averages 61%; the interval until the next pregnancy, if any, depends mostly on factors that cannot be influenced at the time of the diagnosis of EUP.