Common pathological changes in patients with ectopic pregnancy

Ectopic pregnancy refers to the phenomenon that the fertilized egg begins to implant and develop before reaching the uterine cavity. The patient will experience the following pathological changes.

1. Changes in the fallopian tube wall

After an ectopic pregnancy occurs, the body's fallopian tube wall becomes very thin, far less tough than the uterine wall muscle layer, and the fallopian tube mucosa is only the surface layer, and symptoms of lack of submucosal tissue will appear. After the fertilized egg implants, the villi will erode the tube wall muscle layer, causing damage to the microvessels in the muscle layer, and eventually leading to serious consequences such as fallopian tube pregnancy abortion, fallopian tube pregnancy rupture, and secondary abdominal pregnancy.

2. Changes in villi

Generally, after the embryo dies, the villi stop developing. Even if the villi continue to survive or maintain their erosive function within a short period of embryonic death, they will decline. In most patients, fallopian tube rupture also occurs shortly after the embryo dies.

3. Uterine changes

Due to the changes in the endocrine system caused by pregnancy, the human chorionic gonadotropin produced by trophoblast cells will maintain the growth of the corpus luteum, increase the secretion of steroid hormones, and cause the uterus to enlarge and soften. Then the endometrium will undergo a decidual reaction. If the embryo dies, the decidua will undergo degenerative changes, that is, the triangular decidual tubules will be discharged, and the existence of the decidua is generally related to the survival of the fertilized egg.

4. Combined pregnancy changes

Combined pregnancy mainly refers to the phenomenon of simultaneous existence of tubal pregnancy and intrauterine pregnancy. It is relatively rare in clinical practice, but it is easy to be misdiagnosed before surgery.