Introduction: Ectopic pregnancy means the presence of pregnancy outside the normal uterine cavity. Ectopic pregnancy commonly occurs in the fallopian tube (95 %). Diagnosis can be made by USG, serum hCG, although the 'gold standard' is laparoscopy. Management of the cases depends on the clinical presentation, site of the ectopic and need for future reproductive function and can be medical as well as surgical. Objectives: To determine the incidence of ectopic pregnancy, to assess the percentage of ectopic pregnancy diagnosed with each modality, to identify the factors associated with ectopic pregnancy and to calculate the type of management employed whether medical or surgical. Material and methods: This is a retrospective study where all the cases of ectopic pregnancies from 1 st January 2008 to 31 st December 2013 were included. The data on each patient was obtained and was duly entered in M S Excel and descriptive statistical measures were used for analysis Results: The incidence of ectopic pregnancy in the present study was 0.7%. 33.3% patients were primigravida. 5.5% had history of recurrent abortions, 11% of the patients took treatment for infertility, 27.7% had history of previous LSCS, D&C was done in 13% patients and 31.5% had undergone sterilization. In 83.3% ectopic gestation was diagnosed by ultrasound whereas rest 16.7% was diagnosed by serial serum hCG estimation. 22.2% underwent medical management whereas 89% patients underwent surgical management. Failure of medical therapy and subsequent surgical management was seen in 50% patients. Conclusions: Ectopic pregnancy causes significant morbidity to the mother and hence requires a high index of suspicion so that diagnosis can be made early and also to prevent complications and preserve the future reproductive function of the patient.

No abstract

Background: The placenta is a multifaceted organ which modulates and modifies the maternal environment resulting in foetal development. It could be assumed that a healthy placenta culminates in a healthy foetus. Hence the morphometric analysis of a placenta during sonogram is inevitable. The aim of the study was to estimate the relationship between placental thickness and estimated foetal weight.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study and included 450 antenatal women attending the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Tirunelveli Medical College from May 2013 to May 2014. These women had regular cycles with a known Last menstrual period and a singleton foetus. After ethics committee approval, meticulous history including age, parity, demographic factors and past history were recorded. After obtaining consent, these women underwent placental thickness measurement between 14-40 weeks of pregnancy.Results: In the study mean placental thickness between the ranges of 11-49mm was 28.7mm and mean estimated foetal weight was 1.421kilogram. The correlation between the two was 0.943. Hence the positive correlation between the placental thickness and foetal weight is confirmed (p value <0.001).Conclusions: Determining the estimated foetal weight is an important reason for doing a sonogram, especially in third trimester. Placental thickness measured at the level of umbilical cord insertion can serve as an additional parameter in estimating foetal weight in addition to the foetal parameters, since there is a linear correlation between placental thickness and foetal weight.