The diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy by real-time ultrasonography

The value of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of ectopic gestation was jointly investigated at UNTH and Hansa Clinics. One hundred and two doubtful ectopic pregnancies had ultrasonic evaluation after initial clinical work up. 52 (76.5%) patients out of 68 who had ectopic pregnancy were diagnosed at the first scan. There were 16 (23.5%) false negatives. Twenty-eight (82.4%) patients out of 34 patients who never had ectopic pregnancy were cleared at the first scan. There were 6 (17.6%) false positives who had laparotomy performed. Fetal pulsations were seen as early as 6 weeks in 11.8% of the ectopic pregnancies. This sign was considered diagnostic. Ultrasound was found promising in the confirmatory diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy especially when a strong suspicion was established by history clinical examination and pregnancy test.