Ectopic pregnancy. A retrospective study of 501 consecutive patients.

We reviewed the records of 501 patients with ectopic pregnancy (EP) seen at the Kings County Hospital during a five-year period (January 1973-December 1977). Our population characteristics and anamnestic data correlated well with those reported in the literature, except for lower incidence of a previous pelvic infection. Abdominal pain, amenorrhea, and vaginal bleeding were the most common presenting symptoms. While the ultrasound studies demonstrated adnexal masses of a non-specific nature, the laparoscopy constituted an accurate diagnostic tool. Ruptured EP was found in 339 patients (67.6%). Salpingectomy only was the mode of treatment in 369 cases (73.6%). In 28.4% of the cases there a microscopic evidence of chronic inflammatory changes of the tube. There were two fatalities. This study appears to indicate an increasing incidence of EP in our institution, along with, and despite, a decreasing frequency of chronic pelvic inflammatory disease in these patients.