Management of an Early Unlocated Pregnancy

Today we’re bringing back Dr. Erin Cleary one more time before she transitions to her new role as an MFM fellow at the Ohio State University! Dr. Cleary today talks with us on early pregnancy of unknown location - a common problem in the office or the emergency department/triage.

Women presenting to the ED with first trimester bleeding, pain, or both, have had a demonstrated prevalence rate of ectopic pregnancy up to 18% in some studies. Ruptured ectopic is a leading cause of pregnancy-related mortality in the first trimester, accounting for 2.7% of pregnancy-related deaths overall in 2011-2013. Proper identification and management of early, unlocated pregnancy is life-saving!

Dr. Cleary was kind enough to put together her high points from this episode for our blog post today:

H&P:

  • Any patient with an unlocated pregnancy should be considered to have a potential ectopic pregnancy.

    • Women with prior ectopic, regardless of method of treatment, are at risk for ectopic in a subsequent pregnancy (three- to eightfold higher compared with other pregnant women).

    • If pregnancy is present while IUD is in place, risk of ectopic is 1 in 2 pregnancies for the levonorgestrel IUD and 1 in 16 pregnancies for the copper IUD.

    • Women with a history of PID have an approximately threefold increased risk of ectopic pregnancy

  • Pelvic exam. THIS MUST BE DONE.

Beta-HCG

  • The threshold for a positive qualitative β-hcg test is 20-50 milli-int units, depending on test. For quantitative serum tests, the threshold is 5-10 milli-int units, and 1-2 milli-int units, for ultrasensitive tests.

  • The β-hcg concentration doubles every 29 to 53 hours during the first 30 days after implantation of a viable, intrauterine pregnancy.

  • When ectopic pregnancy is on the differential, a qualitative test is not sufficient. A serum quantitative value is essential to:

    • 1. Interpret imaging (“discriminatory zone”)

    • 2. Have a baseline in the event the β-hcg must be trended

The Discriminatory Zone

  • Definition: A concept that there is a quantitative β-hcg level above which the landmarks of a normal intrauterine pregnancy (yolk sac and embryo) should be visible on ultrasound.

    • Therefore, the absence of a gestational sac when β-hcg level is above the DZ is strongly suggestive of nonviable pregnancy, with 50-70% being ectopic.

  • Pelvic ultrasound is the gold standard first line imaging modality in early pregnancy and for evaluation of suspected ectopic pregnancy

  • Imaging results will fall into 1 of 5 main categories

    • IUP with normal adnexa. Normal pregnancy!

    • IUP with abnormal adnexa. Although rare, must evaluate for heterotopic pregnancy, or presence of both an intra and extra-uterine pregnancy.

    • No IUP, extra-uterine mass with YS/FP. Confirms ectopic pregnancy.

    • No IUP, adnexal mass without YS/FP. Suspicious for ectopic pregnancy

    • No IUP, normal adnexa. Differential includes normal but early IUP, failed IUP, or unidentified ectopic.

  • A patient with a confirmed ectopic requires evaluation and counseling by an OBGYN to evaluate candidacy for medical or surgical evaluation.

Management:

  • Expectant management: serial quantitative β-hcg level assessment ~q 48 hours, only for stable patients.

    • Scenario A: The β-hcg level rises appropriately (doubles approximately every 2 days).

    • Scenario B: The β-hcg level falls precipitously.

    • Scenario C: The β-hcg level neither rises appropriately nor drops precipitously. Now we should be MORE concerned about ectopic pregnancy, but abnormal IUP is also on the differential.

  • Repeat pelvic imaging is very helpful

  • Every patient who is stable and an appropriate candidate to trend β-hcg levels will eventually declare herself, with either a located IUP, a failed IUP/SAB, or a confirmed or presumed ectopic pregnancy.

We will cover ectopics for surgical and medical management in a future episode, so stay tuned!

Breastfeeding Part II: Facts and Myth-busting

Today we (finally!) sit down with Part II of our breastfeeding special with Dr. Erin Cleary to cover myths, facts, and advantages of breastfeeding.

There are only three main contraindications to breastfeeding:
1. In infants with galactosemia.
2. In mothers who are HIV+ in high-resource settings.
3. In mothers with human T-cell lymphoma virus.

There are a number of relative contraindications to breastfeeding:

  • In a mother with Hepatitis A until she receives gamma globulin.

  • In a mother with Hepatitis B until the infant receives HBIG and HepB vaccine.

  • In a mother with Hepatitis C if coinfections present, such as HIV.

  • In a mother with Varicella zoster (Chicken pox) while mother is infectious.

  • In a mother with Active TB until mother has received 2+ weeks treatment

  • In a mother with influenza

    • if the mother has been afebrile without antipyretics for >24 hours, and the mother is able to control her cough and respiratory secretions.

    • Oseltamivir or Tamiflu is poorly excreted in breastmilk

  • In patients abusing IV drugs.

  • In patients using marijuana:

    • (THC), the main compound in marijuana, is present in human milk up to eight times that of maternal plasma levels, and metabolites are found in infant feces, indicating that THC is absorbed and metabolized by the infant

    • Several preclinical studies highlight how even low to moderate doses during particular periods of brain development can have profound consequences for brain maturation, potentially leading to long-lasting alterations in cognitive functions and emotional behaviors

    • Breastfeeding mothers should be counseled to reduce or eliminate their use of marijuana to avoid exposing their infants to this substance and advised of the possible long-term neurobehavioral effects from continued use

Common Breastfeeding Myths/Misconceptions:

Infectious:

  • You should breastfeed if you have mastitis, emptying the breast prevents stasis of milk

You can breastfeed in setting of acute respiratory, urinary, GU infections, continuation of BF acceptable

Imaging Sudies

  • You can breastfeed if… You need medical imaging.

    • XRays do not affect milk

    • Mammograms may be harder to interpret when a patient is lactating, but this should not be a reason to defer recommended diagnostic imaging

    • CT/MRI with or without contrast do not impact breastmilk

    • XRays with contrast dye or imaging with radioactive material are also OK

    • Exception: thyroid scan using I-131

      • I-131 concentrates in breastmilk and at high levels can suppress baby’s thyroid function (or even destroy the thyroid) and increase risk of thyroid cancer.

      • Therefore it is important that breastfeeding be discontinued until breastmilk levels are safe (this depends upon the dose and ranges from 8 days to 106+ days). The half-life for I-131 is 8.1 days.

      • Hale recommends that when I-131 is used, breastmilk samples should be tested with a gamma (radiation) counter before breastfeeding is resumed to ensure that radiation in the milk has returned to safe levels.

  • You can breastfeed if… You are pregnant!  

    • Increasing progesterone will decrease supply and cause breast/nipple sensitivity.  

    • Mature milk will be replaced by colostrum in the 2nd trimester.

    • Tandem feeding includes breastfeeding a newborn and toddler

  • You can breastfeed if… You’ve had general anesthesia.  As soon as you are awake enough to hold the baby, the medication has metabolized and breastfeeding is safe.

  • You can breastfeed if… You are on maintenance medications such as methadone and buprenorphine

    • There is a reduction in severity and duration of treatment of NAS when mothers on these medications breastfeed

  • You can breastfeed if… You have an occasional alcoholic beverage

    • Alcohol concentration in the blood is in steady state with the milk, so delaying nursing or pumping until more alcohol is metabolized can limit exposure

  • If direct breastfeeding is interrupted due to temporary separation of mother and child for any reason, the breastfeeding mother should be encouraged and supported to regularly express her milk.

    • Expression and storage of milk allows the infant to continue to receive milk if appropriate, and prevents stasis of milk and mastitis

In the setting of infection, prior to expressing breast milk, mothers should wash their hands well with soap and water and, if using a pump, follow recommendations for proper cleaning.

The Evidence-Based Cesarean Section

Today we go through the steps of cesarean delivery from an evidence basis. We hope this helps everyone from the new interns starting up in just a few weeks to senior residents thinking more about their technique and teaching. The essential article on this from AJOG in 2013 can be found here. However, there have been a number of other articles and talks since, including one regularly given at the ACOG Annual Meeting (check out the 2017 edition by Dr. Strand here), that you all may be aware of and that we encourage you to check out.

One of the more challenging things to relay in the podcast is incisional technique, particularly comparing the traditional Pfannenstiel technique to newer techniques such as Joel-Cohen or Misgav-Ladach. We summarize the differences in those techniques here:

(C) CREOGs Over Coffee (2019)

What’s the difference in these skin incisions?

  • Pfannenstiel: traditionally taught as a curved incision made two finger breadths above the symphysis pubis, with the mid portion of the incision generally within the superior-most aspect of the pubic hair.

  • Joel-Cohen: a straight incision made 3cm below the imaginary line that connects the ASIS on either side. Ultimately this is slightly higher than the Pfannenstiel.

  • Maylard: curved incision made 5-8 cm obove the pubic symphysis. The rectus fascia and muscle are cut transversely, and the inferior epigastric arteries must be ligated.

  • Cherney: using the same skin incision as a Pfannenstiel, but then blunt dissection is used to identify the rectus muscle tendons at their insertion to the public symphysis. They are cut 1-2 cm above their insertion point. On closure, the muscles should be reattached to the anterior rectus sheath, as reattaching to the pubic symphysis may serve as a nidus for osteomyelitis.

HIV in the Pregnant Patient

Today we go into part 2 of our HIV series, this time focusing on pregnancy and HIV. Check out ACOG CO 752 (Prenatal and Perinatal HIV Screening) and CO 751 (Labor and Delivery Management of Women with HIV).

However, we have to give a major shout out to the OBG Project — their editors have put out an awesome summary of HIV in pregnancy and preventing vertical transmission: Check it out here.

(c) OBG Project

One of the important CREOG points on HIV in pregnancy includes drug interactions. Methergine is metabolized by CYP3A4 enzymes, which may be inhibited by certain antiretrovirals. Thus, methergine should be avoided if possible if encountering postpartum hemorrhage.

Lastly, we wanted to drive home the point again about patient autonomy, especially regarding risk of cesarean delivery. We put the ACOG CO text below for you to chew on!

ACOG CO 751

Cardiotocography/EFM Part II: Management

Today we are back with our midwifery colleagues Linda Steinhardt and Liz Kettyle, who shepherd us through the management of cardiotocography in labor.

We start this episode by quickly reviewing definitions, and defining categories of tracings, reviewed below:

Copyright UpToDate

Recall that category I tracings virtually exclude fetal acidemia, while category III tracings are associated with acidemia 25% of the time, but also have higher risk of cerebral palsy, neurologic injury, or fetal death. That said, the positive predictive value for bad outcomes of CTG is overall poor.

We review a number of scenarios and resuscitative measures for category II and III tracings. However, much of this episode draws on the 2013 Clark et al. article to describe the management of category II tracings. The algorithm is below:

Clark et al. (AJOG 2013)