Korean J Radiol.  2007 Apr;8(2):176-179. 10.3348/kjr.2007.8.2.176.

Selective Uterine Artery Embolization for Management of Interstitial Ectopic Pregnancy

• Yang SB
• Lee SJ
• Joe HS
• Goo DE
• Chang YW
• Kim DH

• KMID: 1126843
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2007.8.2.176

Abstract

Interstitial ectopic pregnancy is a rare condition of pregnancy and may be very dangerous if not identified and treated urgently. We report a case of successful treatment of an interstitial pregnancy using selective uterine artery embolization. A 27-year-old woman with interstitial pregnancy was treated by uterine artery embolization after failure of systemic methotrexate treatment. Her serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) was undetectable one month after the therapeutic embolization and transvaginal sonography 31 days after embolization showed normal endometrium and cornu. The patient achieved a normal pregnancy eight months after embolization.

Keyword

Pregnancy, ectopic; Uterus, angiography; Uterus, interventional procedures

MeSH Terms

Adult
Embolization, Therapeutic/*methods
Female
Humans
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Ectopic/*therapy/ultrasonography
Uterus/*blood supply

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Selective uterine artery embolization in a 27-year-old woman with interstitial ectopic pregnancy. A. Axial image from the abdominal ultrasonogram reveals an ectopic gestational sac (arrows) in the interstitial portion of the right fallopian tube. B. Right uterine artery angiogram shows increased vascularity in the right uterine cornu. C. Right uterine artery angiogram after embolization shows complete occlusion of the ascending portion (arrow) of the uterine artery. D. One month after embolization, sagital (left) and axial (right) images of the transvaginal ultrasonogram reveal normal endometrial stripe and cornu regions. E. Eight months after emblization, the oblique sagittal image of the abdominal ultrasonogram demonstrates an eight week intrauterine pregnancy with a fetal heart beat.

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  Fig. 2 Serum β-hCG levels related to treatment. On day 2, i.m. of 1.0 mg/kg methotrexate therapy and on day 3, uterine artery embolization was carried out.

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