Title: A Comparison of Ultrasound and Surgical Findings in Suspected Ectopic Pregnancy
Abstract: A retrospective review was conducted of patients assigned ICD-9 codes for ectopic pregnancy between 1993 and 1996, to compare ultrasonographic assessment with surgically confirmed anatomic pathologic conditions. Demographic information, ultrasound findings, operative reports, and pathology reports were assessed. One hundred thirty of 154 patients (84%) who underwent surgery for treatment of ectopic pregnancy had preoperative ultrasound examinations. Ultrasound findings of an adnexal mass correctly predicted the presence of an ectopic pregnancy subsequently confirmed at surgery in 91 of 130 women, yielding a sensitivity of 70%. The sensitivity of sonographically predicting the location of an ectopic was 60%, and the presence of hemoperitoneum was 78%. Despite advances in technology, sonography should be used in an ancillary role to clinical judgment in the assessment algorithm of this common clinical condition.