Author/Authors :
Al-Mosawi, A Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital - Department of Surgery , Ayyash, E Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital - Department of Surgery , Hayat, S Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital - Department of Surgery , Asfar, S Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital - Department of Surgery , Asfar, S Kuwait University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Surgery, Kuwait
Abstract :
The co-existance of an intrauterine conception with an extrauterinepregnancy is called heterotopic pregnancy. This conditionwas first described by Duverney in 1708 as an autopsy finding. It was later reported to occur in less than 1:30 000 pregnancies. The incidence of heterotopic pregnancy showed an increase with the introduction of assisted pregnancy. It is estimated to be about 400 times greater after the latter than natural conception. Rupture of an ectopic pregnancy in this setting imposes a diagnostic enigma to emergencyphysicians. Delay in recognizing the condition may lead to a fatal outcome.In this report we present our first encounter with a pregnant woman who presented with shock and intra-abdominal bleeding that was found to be due to a ruptured tubal pregnancy in the presence of a viable intrauterine fetus. After an extensive literature search, we found only one recent report of this condition from our geographic area
