An investigation of the time trends, risk factors, role of ultrasonic preoperative diagnosis of 79 ovarian pregnancy

Background Ovarian pregnancy (OP) is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy and is still a medical challenge. Therefore, more studies about the time trends, risk factors and diagnostic measurements are needed for the efficient treatment of OP. Methods The datum of OP patients who were treated at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from 2003 to 2018 was collected and a retrospective cohort study was preformed between OP and tubal pregnancy. Results 79 of all 6943 ectopic pregnancy (1.14%) were OP. The prevalence of OP following assisted reproductive technology showed an increasing trend over time, from 8.33% to 15.22%. Previous abdominal surgery was one of the risk factors of OP (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.18–0.95, p = 0.04). Merely 2 (2.53%) patients were sonographically diagnosed as OP accorded with their discharge diagnosis. However, 56 (80.0%) accumulation of blood in the pelvis formed echo free areas could be clearly found by ultrasonography. A significant difference was found in serum β-hCG level among OP patients and tubal pregnancy patients (2762.73 ± 1915.24 mmol/L vs 1034.20 ± 915.32 mmol/L, p < 0.001). Conclusions The prevalence of OP following assisted reproductive technology is on the rise. History of abdominal surgery may be a high risk factor for OP patients who have the tendency of high β-hCG levels. The ultrasonic preoperative diagnosis is conductive to the early diagnosis of OP though the diagnosis accuracy is low.