FRIDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Women with normal
pregnancies that were misdiagnosed as ectopic who were treated with
methotrexate in the first trimester either miscarried or gave birth
to a severely deformed baby, the results of a small study
suggest.
An ectopic pregnancy is one where the egg begins to develop
outside the womb, which means that the fetus cannot grow normally
and will not survive. The drug methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall),
which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and certain types of
cancer, is also known to be dangerous to developing fetuses and can
end an ectopic pregnancy.
Researchers affiliated with the Organization of Teratology
Information Specialists (OTIS) cautioned that their findings,
published in the December issue of the
American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, may be a red flag for a larger problem. They said more effective tools are needed to properly diagnose ectopic pregnancies.
"This report describes a subset of cases that occur in the general population and it suggests that this misdiagnosis is not limited to one center or one part of the United States or Canada," Sharon Lavigne, study co-author and coordinator of OTIS' Connecticut affiliate, said in a news release from the organization. "There are likely many more of these scenarios out there that our services never hear about," she added.
For the study, the researchers examined eight North American
women with normal pregnancies that were misdiagnosed as ectopic.
The women were given high doses of methotrexate, which resulted in
miscarriage, termination of the pregnancy or the birth of severely
malformed babies. The investigators concluded that more accurate
and effective tools are needed to diagnose and treat ectopic
pregnancy.
"This is a challenging diagnosis, and efforts to accurately locate the pregnancy in suspected early ectopic pregnancies would benefit from improved diagnostic tools," another study co-author, Myla Moretti, assistant director of Motherisk, OTIS' Canadian affiliate, explained in the news release. "Establishing a non-punitive reporting mechanism to explore the magnitude of this problem will be helpful in increasing awareness and possibly preventing these events in the future."
More information
The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about
ectopic pregnancy.