[Tubal pregnancy and tubal pregnancy recurrence]

This study includes 389 cases of ectopic pregnancies and 34 cases with repeat ectopic pregnancies occurring from 1955 to 1974 at the University Women's Hospital Tuebingen. The incidence of ectopic pregnancy in relation to the number of births was 0.9%. The incidence of repeat ectopic pregnancy was 9.3%. The percentage of ectopic pregnancies was lower after 1966, but the percentage of repeat ectopic pregnancies remained unchanged. The menstrual history was non-revealing and 76.5% of the patients with repeat ectopic pregnancy had been pregnant prior to the first ectopic pregnancy. The average age at the time of the first ectopic pregnancy was 28.2 years and at the time of the second ectopic pregnancy 32.2 years. On the average, repeat ectopic pregnancy occurred 43.8 months later (range 6-192 months). In 2 repeat ectopic pregnancies a conservative management of the tube at the time of the first tubal pregnancy had been used. 61.5% of the first ectopic pregnancies and 62.5% of the repeat ectopic pregnancies were located in the ampullary portion of the tube, 38.5% respectively 34.4% in the isthmic portion and 0% respectively 3.1% in the intramural part. Among the 34 cases with repeat ectopic pregnancies 6 women had intrauterine pregnancies after the first ectopic pregnancy, but only 2 delivered live-born infants. The mortality for all ectopic pregnancies was 0%.