[Chlamydia trachomatis infection in women with ectopic pregnancy]

Chlamydia trachomatis infection, presumably sexually transmitted, has been implicated in the spread of tubal infertility and ectopic pregnancy. In searching evidence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection as a possible cause of tubal ectopic pregnancy, we enrolled 40 consecutive pathologically proven tubal ectopic women and 37 normal early intrauterine pregnant women from our OPD and ward from Jan. 1989 to July 1989. All cases underwent a structured interview giving particular attention to past reproductive history, contraception history and past history of STD. The levels of serum antibody IgG to Chlamydia trachomatis in all cases were determined. Seven ectopic women with wearing IUD in situ (group A) and 33 ectopic women with no identical factor (group B) were compared with 37 normal early intrauterine pregnant women (control group). The result showed group B more often had IgG antibody to Chlamydia trachomatis than control group (P = 0.001). Group A had higher antibody to Chlamydia trachomatis than control group but the difference was not statistically significant (P greater than 0.05). We concluded that the above findings add to the evidence that Chlamydia trachomatis infection is a major cause of tubal ectopic pregnancy.