Diagnostic Accuracy of Doppler Ultrasound in Ectopic Pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Doppler ultrasound in the detection of ectopic pregnancy.
Methodology: This prospective observational study was done at Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (The University of Lahore) with collaboration of different Hospitals for the data collection. Study was done during a period of one year from May 2019 to April 2020. All the pregnant women aged >17 years presenting with symptoms of ectopic pregnancy of either parity, were included. All patients underwent a color Doppler ultrasound using a dedicated machine. Subsequently, the patients were followed until they underwent surgical management, and the operative findings were meticulously recorded. The data was collected using a pre-designed proforma. Subsequently, the data was analyzed with SPSS version 20.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 31.53 years, and average gestational age was 6.03 weeks. 35.0% of the participants have a positive family history. According to Color Doppler ultrasound findings, the majority of cases, 96.7% were identified as positive ectopic pregnancy, while as per the surgical findings, 93.3% of the cases confirmed as ectopic pregnancy. Sensitivity of color Doppler ultrasound was 100%, the specificity was 60%. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 94% and negative predictive value (NPV) was 100%, suggesting that there was a 100% chance that it was accurate in ruling out ectopic pregnancy.
Conclusion: Color Doppler ultrasound found to be highly sensitive, reliable and noninvasive tool in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy. The findings cannot be applied definitively due to limitations, particularly the small sample size. To establish the findings' strength, further large-scale studies are strongly recommended for validation and confirmation.