Immunohistochemical demonstration of intermediate trophoblasts for differential diagnosis of uterine and ectopic pregnancy

The objective in the study was to detect the intermediate trophoblastic cells and to differentiate the abortion from ectopic pregnancy by using immunohistochemical methods. Method: Four groups of patients were included in the study, and the archival materials of the patients were used for immunohistochemistry. Group 1 comprised of 10 patients who had miscarriages between the 5th and 12th weeks of gestation. There were 5 non pregnant patients in group 2. In group 3, there were 64 patients who had ectopic pregnancy between the 5th and 12th weeks of gestation. Group 4 comprised of 50 patients who were clinically suspected of miscarriage without chorionic villi, and cyto and syncytiotrophoblast. Results: All trophoblastic cells of chorionic villi showed strong positivity for sitokeratin in group 1 though this was not the condition in group 2 and 3. In group 4, however, 35 of 50 patients had intermediate trophoblast cells as detected by cytokeratin staining. Conclusion: The use of these hormone markers in endometrial specimens increases precision in the diagnosis of intrauterine versus ectopic pregnancy.