The use of ultrasound-based 'soft markers' for the prediction of pelvic pathology in women with chronic pelvic pain--can we reduce the need for laparoscopy?

OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of new transvaginal ultrasound-scan-based markers and to compare them to conventional ultrasound methods used in the detection of common pelvic pathology in women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP). DESIGN: A prospective observational study. SETTING: Teaching hospital. POPULATION: A total of 120 consecutive women with CPP undergoing transvaginal ultrasonography before either diagnostic or operative laparoscopy. METHODS: Anatomical abnormalities, e.g. endometrioma or hydrosalpinx (hard markers), were documented. The woman was then assessed for the presence or absence of 'soft markers' (reduced ovarian mobility and site-specific pelvic tenderness). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Presence or absence of pelvic pathology noted during laparoscopy. RESULTS: Seventy women had pelvic pathology, of whom 51 had endometriosis alone, 7 both endometriosis and pelvic adhesions, 6 pelvic adhesions, 1 hydrosalpinx with endometriosis and 5 hydrosalpinx and pelvic adhesions. The likelihood ratio for the hard markers was infinity (specificity was 100%), for the soft makers 1.9 (95% CI 1.2-3.1) and for a 'normal' ultrasound 0.18 (0.09-0.34). The pre-test probability of pelvic disease in our population of women with CPP was 58%, and this probability of disease was raised to 100% with the presence of hard markers and to 73% with the presence of soft markers. The pre-test probability of 58% fell to 20% when ultrasound finding was found to be normal. CONCLUSION: This new approach improves the detection and exclusion of significant pathology in women with CPP and may lead to a reduction in the number of unnecessary laparoscopies carried out on women with CPP.

Do we need to follow up complete miscarriages with serum human chorionic gonadotrophin levels?

Despite a history of heavy vaginal bleeding with clots, a proportion of women diagnosed with complete miscarriage, using transvaginal sonography (TVS), have an underlying ectopic pregnancy (EP). We evaluated the need for hormonal follow up in women with history and scan findings suggestive of complete miscarriage. One hundred and fifty-two consecutive women with findings suggesting complete miscarriage at presentation based on their history and TVS were presented to the Early Pregnancy Unit. Serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) levels were taken at presentation and 48 hours. All women were followed up until hCG was <5 u/L or a pregnancy was visualised on TVS either inside or outside the uterus. Overall, 9 (5.9%) of 152 women with an apparent complete miscarriage had an underlying EP. A diagnosis of complete miscarriage based on history and scan findings alone is unreliable. These women should be managed as 'pregnancies of unknown location' with serum hCG follow up.

A prospective evaluation of a single-visit strategy to manage pregnancies of unknown location.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to assess whether women with a pregnancy of unknown location (PUL) can be safely excluded from potentially unnecessary multiple clinic visits. METHODS: A single-visit protocol was developed based upon data from 200 consecutive PULs. PULs were divided into groups according to the probable risk of ectopic pregnancy. Those PULs with an initial serum progesterone < or =10 nmol/l or a serum HCG of < or =25 U/l were deemed to be at low risk and classified as resolving or failing PULs. Those PULs with an initial serum progesterone of >50 nmol/l, regardless of serum HCG, were thought to be a probable intra-uterine pregnancy (IUP) and were also classified as being low risk. Those PULs with an initial serum progesterone of 10-50 nmol/l and a serum HCG of >25 U/l were classified as being at high risk. This protocol was then tested prospectively on 318 consecutive PULs. Management was based solely on the basis of an initial transvaginal ultrasound scan (TVS) and a single measurement of HCG and progesterone taken at the time of initial consultation. RESULTS: A total of 5544 consecutive women were scanned, of which 560 (10.1%) women were classified as PULs. Forty-two were lost to follow-up and therefore 518 (9.34%) were analysed. In the training set of 200 PULs, there were 111 (55.5%) failing PULs, 67 (33.5%) IUPs and 22 (11%) ectopic pregnancies. In the test set of 318, there were 189 (59.4%) failing PULs, 114 (35.8%) IUPs and 15 (4.7%) ectopic pregnancies. For the training group, the sensitivity and specificity of a single visit to detect low-risk PULs were 77 and 82%, respectively. The positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) were 97 and 31%, respectively. For the test group of 318 PULs, the sensitivity and specificity were 84 and 33%, respectively. The PPV and NPV were 96 and 9.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A single-visit strategy based on commonly used criteria eliminates 84% of non-ectopic pregnancies correctly from the system. However, as 67% of ectopic pregnancies are discharged without adequate follow-up, a single-visit strategy should not be used as an alternative to the current multi-visit strategy used in most units.

Should we be examining the ovaries in pregnancy? Prevalence and natural history of adnexal pathology detected at first-trimester sonography.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and natural history of ovarian pathology in pregnancy. METHODS: Three thousand consecutive pregnant women presenting before 14 weeks' gestation at the early pregnancy unit at St George's Hospital, London, underwent ultrasound examination during which both ovaries were visualized. Women found to have a simple ovarian cyst with a minimum diameter > or =25 mm or a complex ovarian cyst of any size were included in the study. They were followed up with ultrasound scans every 4-6 weeks until either resolution of the ovarian cyst occurred, intervention was required or the pregnancy was concluded. If the cyst persisted at 20 weeks' gestation, these women were rescanned 6 weeks after conclusion of the pregnancy. Women were managed expectantly throughout their pregnancy. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty one women with a total of 166 cysts were included for analysis. At presentation, 43.7% of the women were asymptomatic and 56.3% had pain and/or vaginal bleeding. The mean gestational age at presentation was 53 (range, 28-98) days, the mean maternal age was 30 (range, 17-42) years, and the mean ovarian cyst diameter was 48 (range, 12-115) mm. The first-trimester pregnancy diagnoses were 106 intrauterine pregnancies, 40 miscarriages, five ectopic pregnancies, three pregnancies of unknown location and seven terminations of pregnancy. The sonographic features of the ovarian cysts included: 117 simple and anechoic, 21 hemorrhagic, 16 with mixed echogenicity, seven with a ground-glass appearance, three solid/cystic with papillary projections and two with low-level echoes. One hundred and nineteen (71.7%) of the cysts resolved spontaneously and were presumed to be physiological, 40 (24.1%) persisted and seven (4.2%) required intervention, four of these as an emergency because of pain. There was one case of borderline malignancy and no cases of malignancy. Five (3.0%) of the cysts underwent torsion. Only 0.13% (4/3000) of all women who initially presented to our unit required acute intervention during their pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of cysts detected in early pregnancy are physiological and resolve. Very few persist and intervention during the pregnancy is rarely indicated. The expectant management of ovarian cysts detected in the first trimester is safe and should be encouraged. Examining the ovaries in the first trimester is of limited value.

The use of a new logistic regression model for predicting the outcome of pregnancies of unknown location.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to generate and evaluate new logistic regression models from simple demographic and hormonal data to predict the outcome of pregnancies of unknown location (PULs). METHODS: Data were collected prospectively from 185 consecutive women classified as having a PUL by transvaginal scan; blood was taken at presentation and 48 h later to measure serum progesterone and HCG. These women were followed-up until the outcome was established: an intrauterine pregnancy (IUP), an ectopic pregnancy (EP) or a failing PUL. Three multi-categorical logistic regression models were tested. M1 was based on the HCG ratio (rate of change in HCG over 48 h), M2 was based on the average progesterone level (the mean of the progesterone level at 0 and 48 h) and M3 was based on the patient's age. RESULTS: A total of 102 failing PULs, 63 IUPs and 20 EPs were used in the training set to develop the new models. The best of these models, M3, gave a retrospective area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.984 for failing PUL, 0.995 for IUP and 0.920 for EP. All three models were tested prospectively on the test set of 196 cases. M1 outperformed M2 and M3 when tested prospectively. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.975 for failing PUL, 0.966 for IUP and 0.885 for EP. M1, for the detection of EP, had a sensitivity of 91.7%, a specificity of 84.2%, a positive likelihood ratio of 5.8, a positive predictive value of 27.5% and a negative predictive value of 99.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The logistic regression model M1, can predict which PULs will become failing PULs, IUPs and, most importantly, EPs based on the patient's HCG ratio alone.

The conservative management of early pregnancy complications: a review of the literature.

Early pregnancy complications include miscarriage, ectopic pregnancies, adnexal masses and pregnancies of unknown location. In this review, we evaluate the role of conservative management in these complications. We also evaluate the role of transvaginal sonography for diagnosis, treatment and follow up. When managing women with early pregnancy complications, it is important to recognise the normal sonographic milestones in the first trimester. Understanding the pattern of serum human chorionic gonadotropin change in early normal pregnancy and the correlation between low serum progesterone levels and the spontaneous resolution of a pregnancy are also important concepts. Guidelines for assessing suitability for conservative management should be strictly governed by evidence based protocols. Women can then be offered expectant or medical treatment as appropriate.

Placental site trophoblastic tumor masquerading as an ovarian ectopic pregnancy.

The vast majority of pregnancies of unknown location (PUL) will be failing pregnancies and early intrauterine or ectopic pregnancies (EPs) that are too early to visualize on transvaginal scan. Very rarely, a positive pregnancy test in the presence of a negative scan will reflect an underlying human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-secreting tumor. We report a case in which elevated serum hCG led to the initial diagnosis of an EP which was subsequently found to be a placental site tumor of the ovary. This case shows that a misinterpretation of signs of EP can result in a delay in accurate diagnosis.

Long term outcome following laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the long term outcome of laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Minimal Access Surgical Unit, Department of Gynaecology, Royal Surrey County Hospital, Surrey. METHODS: Analysis of patient case records. POPULATION: Seventy consecutive women who had a laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy. OUTCOME MEASURES Symptoms related to the cervical stump and the need for further surgery. RESULTS: The mean time of patient follow up was 66 months (range 52-84). The mean time from initial procedure to second treatment was 14 months (range 3-53). Seventeen women (24.3%) reported symptoms related to the cervical stump, and all required further surgery. The cervical stump was removed in 16 (22.8%). One patient had laparoscopic adhesiolysis only and two had a laparotomy and trachelectomy because the bowel was adherent to the cervical stump. Nine had a laparoscopically assisted cervical trachelectomy as the sole procedure. Five had laser treatment to endometriotic deposits, and laparoscopically assisted cervical trachelectomy. Histological analysis showed normal cervical tissue in six (35.3%). Endometriosis was detected in four cervical stumps (23.5 %), residual endometrium in another four (23.5 %) cases, and chronic cervicitis, mild CIN and a mucocoele in a further three patients. Of the 17 women who reported cervical stump symptoms, 14 (82.3%) had been treated for endometriosis in the past, compared with 17/53 (32%) who did not have symptoms (P < 0.0002, chi2 test). CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms related to the cervical stump requiring further surgery frequently occur following a laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy.

Prenatal diagnosis of atypical cystic lesions of the fetal scalp.

Two cases of cystic lesions of the fetal scalp are described. They were initially thought to be meningoceles, but the brain was normal on ultrasound examination and there were no associated abnormalities. In the first case, by 26 weeks' gestation, the original cystic lesion had regressed to a dense tissue mass; in the second case, the cyst remained as a small anechoic mass. Postnatal assessment in the first case revealed a plexiform skin lesion measuring 40 x 15 mm on the left parietal bone. This was mobile and not attached to the underlying structures. The skull showed no obvious defect and a cranial scan was normal. In the second case, an epidermal cyst was diagnosed.