Plasma progesterone kinetics following surgical treatment of ectopic pregnancies

Objectives: Comparative study of plasma progesterone and beta HCG kinetics following surgical treatment of ectopic pregnancy. Study Design: Prospectiv e study involving 62 patients with tubal ectopic pregnancies. Study of the kinetics of plasma progesterone and beta HCG, and the correlation coefficie nt between plasma progesterone and beta HCG levels during post-operative fo llow-up. Results: Thirty-nine patients were treated by salpingostomy and 23 by salpingectomy. Analyzing the beta HCG kinetics according to treatment r evealed that both curves were convergent on day 2. Progesterone kinetics di ffered greatly in that they appeared "parallel and confused". Analyzing the correlation between beta HCG and progesterone levels proved the absence of a significant link. Conclusions: Studying the kinetics of plasma progester one after surgical treatment of ectopic pregnancies revealed a fast decreas e in progesterone. Statistical analysis of the progesterone concentration s howed that post-operative kinetics is fully independent from that of beta H CG. Progesterone therefore cannot be substituted to beta HCG for post-opera tive follow-up. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.