The association between the prevalence of HIV infection and ectopic pregnancy

Women infected with the human immunodeficient virus have a higher risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, which could lead to development of ectopic pregnancy due to fallopian tubal pathology. Due to short pregnancy period, women with ectopic pregnancy unlikely complete the antenatal screening, which includes HIV tests. Therefore, it is postulated that unscreened HIV infection prevalence in women with ectopic pregnancy diagnosis could be significantly higher than in women with normal intrauterine pregnancy (IUP). The aim of the present retrospective cross-sectional study was to determine the association between ectopic pregnancy and HIV infection in KwaZulu Natal Province hospital setting, between 2016 and 2017. 5427 pregnant women with normal pregnancies formed the intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) cohort, while 83 patients were part of the ectopic pregnancy cohort. The statistical HIV prevalence was significantly higher in the ectopic pregnancy cohort (56.63% vs 39.4%, P-value of 0.001). In addition, HIV prevalence in the ectopic pregnancy cohort was analyzed per age group, and it was found to be higher in the 25-34 years age group (88.3%) than the 16-24 (43.3%) and 35-42 (60%) years age groups. This study highlights the significance of conducting a full antenatal screening programme in patients who present with ectopic pregnancy, to improve the rate of HIV infection testing and treatment in women who present with ectopic pregnancy. (Afr J Reprod Health 2023; 27 [2]: 87-91).