Publication:

Concurrent bilateral ectopic pregnancy: a rarity

Bilateral ectopic pregnancy is a rare twin gestation with only a few cases reported in the literature. We report a 30 year old woman without any high risk factor for ectopic pregnancy, who had concurrent bilateral ectopic pregnancy. A 30 year old female presented to the Gynecology emergency department complaining of vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain. The presumptive diagnosis of ruptured left sided ectopic pregnancy was made on basis of clinical findings and ultrasound finings. An emergency laparotomy was done revealed a hemoperitoneum of 1.5 liters, a ruptured left tubal pregnancy with active bleeding and right tubal un-ruptured ectopic was found. A bilateral salpingectomy was performed. Histopathology confirmed presence of chorionic villi in both tubes. In theory, laparoscopic salpingostomy is the best surgical approach in bilateral tubal pregnancy. However, bilateral salpingectomy may be necessary when both tubes are extensively damaged or are actively bleeding. Successful pregnancies have been reported after conservative surgical treatment of bilateral ectopic, but the risk of recurrence is high. Our decision for an emergency laparotomy followed by bilateral salpingectomy was based on the fact that the patient presented with acute abdomen and was haemodynamically unstable and there was extensive bilateral tubal damage. As the incidence of ectopic pregnancies is increasing concurrently with the incidences of pelvic inflammatory disease and use of assisted fertility techniques; it may be that these “rare ectopics” will become less uncommon.