Ectopic pregnancy effects on the ipsilateral fallopian tube epithelium--an ultrastructural study

Ectopic pregnancy specimens of 6 human Fallopian tube fimbrial epithelia were studied utilizing ultrastructural, cytochemical and morphometric methods. The observations were compared with those made on 12 intrauterine pregnancy specimens. The morphometric measurements indicate earlier onset of atrophic changes in ectopic pregnancy. Deciliation in Ectopic pregnancy preceded that observed in intrauterine pregnancy. Cell height also decreased earlier in ectopic pregnancy than in intrauterine pregnancy. In addition, during the 1st trimester, ultrastructural localization of calcium revealed that, in ectopic pregnancy, the mitochondrial calcium, which was observed in intrauterine specimens, was shifted into the cytoplasmic compartment of the ciliary cell. Consequently, cytoplasmic calcium was found in the ectopic specimens and was less evident in the intrauterine specimens. Thus, a local atrophic effect is evident in ectopic pregnancy, which appears earlier than the atrophic process found in intrauterine pregnancy.