Early Diagnosis and Follow-Up of Spontaneous Heterotopic Pregnancy

Abstract

Heterotopic pregnancy is the coexistence of intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) and ectopic pregnancy (EP) in the same patient regardless of the location of the EP. It is a rare but not exceptional pathology whose diagnosis, based on ultrasound, is often difficult. This results in a late discovery involving the patient's vital prognosis. We report a case of a spontaneous heterotopic pregnancy that occurred in a 26-year-old patient, in whom early ultrasound diagnosis and early management helped to preserve the intrauterine pregnancy that was followed up to the eventual delivery of a eutrophic new-born in apparent good health. Our objective is to recall the existence of this pathology and to contribute to its early diagnosis through the proposal of 3 diagnostic keys.