Predictive factors of methotrexate treatment success in ectopic pregnancy: A single-center tertiary study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: It is controversial whether medical or surgical treatment options have more successful results in ectopic pregnancy treatment. Although high pretreatment serum hCG levels have been known to be the most important predictor, theappropriate treatment modality for a specific range of hCG level remains unclear. Furthermore, the variables that make apatient a bad candidate for single-dose methotrexate treatment is unclear.The aim of this study was to identify predictive factors associated with the success of single-dose methotrexate treatment inwomen with ectopic pregnancy.METHODS: In this retrospective study, 101 women with tubal ectopic pregnancies who had been treated with single-dosemethotrexate were selected. The gestational ages, pretreatment hCG values, ectopic mass size, and fluid presence in theabdomen were compared between the groups.RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 30.6±5.8 (range, 19–42) years, and the gestational age at first injection was7.0±2.13 (range, 2.3–13.6) weeks. The overall treatment success rate was 77.2% (n=79). The mean duration of hospitalstay was 4.21±1.89 days in the successfully treated group and 6.92±2.13 days in the failure group (p