Updates in Diagnosis and Management of Ectopic Pregnancy

Abstract

Ectopic pregnancy (EP) occurs when the conceptus becomes embedded and matures beyond the endometrial cavity, resulting in the foetus' mortality.
 Ectopic pregnancy can become a lifethreatening issue if it is not diagnosed and treated promptly. The most common symptoms of an unruptured ectopic pregnancy are first-haemorrhage and abdominal pain.
 Although these symptoms can also occur in intrauterine pregnancy and spontaneous abortion, when a pregnant woman shows them, clinicians should suspect ectopic pregnancy. Methotrexate, a folic acid antagonist, has been extensively studied in medicine. Methotrexate inhibits dihydrofolate reductase, causing trophoblastic cells to divide rapidly and reducing tetrahydrofolate levels (a cofactor for deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid formation).