Predictors of success of medical management of ectopic pregnancy in a tertiary care hospital in United arab emirates.

INTRODUCTION: Ectopic pregnancy is the most common cause of pregnancy related deaths in the first trimester of pregnancy. Advances in laboratory and imaging technologies in last few decades allow an early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy, many times even before the patient develops any symptoms. Consequently in many such patients surgery is not always necessary. Expectant and medical management are feasible options in properly selected cases. In the present study, efficacy of medical management of selected cases of ectopic pregnancy with injection methotrexate and the factors influencing the success of medical management were evaluated.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective study involving 40 women with ectopic pregnancy who met inclusion criteria and were managed medically with Methotrexate (MTX) in a tertiary hospital in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Various factors which could possibly influence the success of medical management were evaluated.
RESULTS: ROC analyses for day 1(pretreatment) Beta HCG levels revealed that the optimum cut off for Beta HCG level of 6000 mIU/ml on day 1 can be considered a good predictor of success of medical management with MTX. Falling serum Beta HCG between day 1-4 very well predicted success of MTX therapy (irrespective of number of doses of MTX) with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 100% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 31.25%. Similarly adnexal mass size ≤ 3 cms and duration of amenorrhoea < 6 weeks were found to be good predictors of success of medical management (PPV 96.66% and NPV 90% for both factors).In the present study, irrespective of number of doses received, medical management with MTX was successful in 75% cases (30 out of 40).
CONCLUSION: RESULTS of this study indicate that pretreatment Beta HCG level of < 6000 mIU/ml, adnexal mass size < 3 cms, amenorrhoea < 6 weeks and absence of free fluid in the pelvis are predictors of a successful treatment with MTX. In properly selected cases medical management of ectopic pregnancy with MTX is highly effective and can be considered a forward step taken towards conservation of fallopian tubes especially in countries like UAE where there is inclination towards large family size based on religious and cultural background.