Evaluation of Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Ectopic Pregnancy

Abstract

 Background: Ectopic pregnancy is a common life threatening complication of early pregnancy refers to a gestation in which the fertilized ovum implants on any tissue other than the endometrial membrane lining the uterine cavity. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic factor and plays a key role in the establishment of a viable pregnancy, participating in the processes of implantation and placentation, and appears to be significantly increased in early pregnancy complications.  Aim of study:To determine serum level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and evaluate their capacity to serve as a marker for diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. Methods: A case-control study that was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Azadi Teaching Hospital/Kirkuk-Iraq, during the period of nine months from the 1 st of February 2021 until 30 th of October 2021.The statistical analysis included 90 women with early pregnancy at 6 weeks of gestation who attended obstetrical emergency unit and outpatient clinic. They were divided into three groups included 30 cases in each group. Group one diagnosed as ectopic pregnancy, group two diagnosed as arrested intrauterine pregnancy and group three as normal intrauterine pregnancy. They are diagnosed based on combination of their last menstrual period, transvaginal ultrasound, serum beta human chorionic gonadotropin (BhCG) results, and histopathologically proved for ectopic pregnancy.After verbal consent Serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was measured by a kit uses enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) for all study participants. Result: There were no statistically significant difference between the study groups in age, body mass index and parity. There was significant higher mean of vascular endothelial growth among ectopic pregnancy in comparison to arrested intrauterine pregnancy and normal intrauterine pregnancy. When cut-off concentrations ≥200 pg/ml for vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF were used and correlated it with beta human chorionic gonadotropin BhCG showed that it could distinguish intrauterine pregnancy IUP from Ectopic pregnancy with %98 sensitivity and 96.3% specificity. Conclusion: Vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF is a potential marker for Ectopic pregnancy, its concentrations in ectopic pregnancy are higher than in those with normal and arrested IUP.