[Successful drug therapy of persistent ectopic pregnancy after tube-saving operation]

We report on a 29-year old woman, gravida 1, para 0, who complained, after 6 weeks of amenorrhoea, of vaginal bleeding and acute pain in the lower left abdomen. A non-ruptured left ampullary tubal pregnancy was recognised at diagnostic laparoscopy and removed by tube-preserving surgery. Subsequently, serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was quantified every two days; a rising hCG concentration confirmed a persistent ectopic gestation in the patient. 12 days after conservative laparoscopic surgery, treatment with methotrexate (1 mg/kg intramuscularly a day) during 4 days was initiated. After another brief rise, the hCG concentration dropped continuously down and was no longer detectable after 2 months.