Distinguishing between cornual, angular and interstitial ectopic pregnancy: A case report and a brief literature review

Abstract

For all clinical purposes, cornual, angular, and interstitial pregnancies are considered ectopic pregnancies that can have grave consequences for the patient. In this article, we describe and distinguish 3 types of ectopic pregnancies in the cornual region of the uterus. The authors advocate using the “cornual pregnancy” term only for ectopic pregnancies in malformed uteruses. We describe an ectopic pregnancy in a 25-year-old G2P1 patient in the cornual region of the uterus that was missed twice sonographically in the second trimester and had almost fatal consequences in the patient. Radiologists and sonographers should be aware of the sonographic diagnosis of angular, cornual and interstitial pregnancies. Whenever possible, first-trimester transvaginal ultrasound scanning is crucial for diagnosing these 3 types of ectopic pregnancies in the cornual region. In the second and third trimesters, ultrasound tends to become equivocal; hence alternate imaging, such as MRI, might add additional value to the management of the patient. A case report assessment and a comprehensive literature review comprising 61 case reports of ectopic pregnancy in the second and third trimesters are diligently undertaken in the Medline, Embase and Web of Science databases. The major strength of our study is that it is one of the few studies that describe a literature review of ectopic pregnancy in the cornual region exclusively in the second and third trimesters.