Ovarian pregnancy
medical condition
Ovarian pregnancy refers to an ectopic pregnancy that is located in the ovary. Typically the egg cell is not released or picked up at ovulation, but fertilized within the ovary where the pregnancy implants. Such a pregnancy usually does not proceed past the first four weeks of pregnancy. An untreated ovarian pregnancy causes potentially fatal intra-abdominal bleeding and thus may become a medical emergency.
Cause and pathology
The cause of ovarian pregnancy is unknown, specifically as the usual causative factors – pelvic inflammatory disease and pelvic surgery – implicated in tubal ectopic pregnancy seem to be uninvolved. There appears to be a link to the intrauterine device (IUD), however, it cannot be concluded that this is causative as it could be that IUDs prevent other but not ovarian pregnancies. Some have suggested that patients who undergo IVF therapy are at higher risk for ovarian pregnancy.
An ovarian pregnancy is usually understood to begin when a mature egg cell is not expelled or picked up from its follicle and a sperm enters the follicle and fertilizes the egg, giving rise to an intrafollicular pregnancy. It has also been debated that an egg cell fertilized outside of the ovary could implant on the ovarian surface, perhaps aided by a decidual reaction or endometriosis. Ovarian pregnancies rarely go longer than 4 weeks; nevertheless, there is the possibility that the trophoblast finds further support outside the ovary and thus may affect the tube and other organs.
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