Fertility Outcomes after Pregnancies of Unknown Location
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Fertility outcomes following pregnancies of unknown location
IRAS ID
173333
Contact name
Research Office
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
A pregnancy of unknown location (PUL) is defined as the absence of an intra- or extra-uterine pregnancy on ultrasound scan, in the presence of a positive pregnancy test. Follow- up of these women involves serial blood tests, sometimes for several weeks until resolution of the pregnancy or until an alternative diagnosis is made.p
It occurs with an incidence of 8-31% (1-3) and the final diagnosis is an ongoing pregnancy in 27% (3), a miscarriage in 9% (3) and an ectopic pregnancy in 14% (3), the remainder being failing pregnancies of unknown final location.
Previous studies in other populations have shown fertility rates of 79-82% in the two years following a miscarriage (4) and 56-83% following an ectopic pregnancy (5). Currently, fertility outcomes in the PUL population are unknown and we would like to compare outcomes between these women (who have had a true PUL where the location of the pregnancy was never identified) and women who have had a first trimester miscarriage that was managed conservatively. Women who require an evacuation of retained products of conception (ERPC) will be excluded to remove the potential for bias introduced by the possible effect of ERPC on subsequent fertility. This will enable us to add to the published literature on the outcomes after first trimester complications, but more importantly to allow us to better counsel women who present with this type of pregnancy.
REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0025
Date of REC Opinion
24 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion