{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T18:06:01Z","timestamp":1785434761269,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767830400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Ectopic pregnancy (EP) remains a major cause of maternal morbidity. This study aimed to describe the clinical, ultrasonographic and histopathological features of EP, including changes following methotrexate (MTX) therapy. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 60 patients diagnosed with EP between 2018 and 2024. Clinical characteristics, serum \u03b2-hCG (beta-human chorionic gonadotropin) dynamics, treatment type, site-specific ultrasonographic features, and histopathological aspects were evaluated. Results: Extrauterine EPs accounted for 63.3% of cases, predominantly tubal ectopic pregnancy (T-EP), while uterine ectopic pregnancy represented 33.3%, including cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) in 20%. Heterotopic pregnancy was identified in 3.3%. T-EP most frequently required surgical management, whereas MTX was effective in selected T-EP and CSP cases, as demonstrated by a \u2265 15% decline in serum \u03b2-hCG levels at 7 days. Transvaginal ultrasonography (TVUS) enabled accurate site-specific localization of ectopic implantation. Histopathological evaluation confirmed ectopic implantation and MTX-related changes in treated cases. Conclusions: Integrating clinical findings, \u03b2-hCG dynamics, and targeted TVUS allows accurate diagnosis and individualized management of EP, with histopathology providing definitive confirmation and insight into treatment-related changes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15020507","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T11:11:21Z","timestamp":1767870681000},"page":"507","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["From Suspicion to Confirmation: An Original Study on a Complete Diagnostic Pathway for Ectopic Pregnancy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Marian Valentin","family":"Zoril\u0103","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7823-3387","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dominic-Gabriel","family":"Iliescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2358-7866","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"George-Lucian","family":"Zoril\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9192-7319","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel","family":"Pirici","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Research Center for Microscopic Morphology and Immunology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3631-9107","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anca-Maria","family":"Istrate-Ofi\u0163eru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Research Center for Microscopic Morphology and Immunology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Camelia-Gabriela","family":"Ro\u015fu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Research Center for Microscopic Morphology and Immunology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cristina Jana","family":"Busuioc","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Research Center for Microscopic Morphology and Immunology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lauren\u021biu","family":"Mogoant\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Research Center for Microscopic Morphology and Immunology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5376-7975","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vanda Roxana","family":"Nimigean","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"R\u0103zvan Grigora\u0219","family":"C\u0103pit\u0103nescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elena Iuliana Anamaria","family":"Berbecaru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roxana-Cristina","family":"Dr\u0103gu\u0219in","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4979-342X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria-Cristina","family":"Com\u0103nescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefan","family":"Paitici","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmwh.2006.07.008","article-title":"Ectopic Pregnancy","volume":"51","author":"Kriebs","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. 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