RESUMEN
Cervical ectopic pregnancy is a rare but life-threatening condition in which early diagnosis and treatment are key to a successful outcome. In the past, this diagnosis led inevitably to a hysterectomy due to the risk of massive bleeding. Currently, the most effective method of treatment is yet to be found. We report a case of a 31-year-old nulliparous female with six weeks of amenorrhea and vaginal bleeding. The first approach missed the diagnosis, but an ultrasound performed by an expert revealed a gestational sac with an embryo in the cervical canal. The fertility-sparing therapeutic strategy involved performing treatment with systemic and local methotrexate, followed by embolization of the uterine artery and cervical curettage to remove the trophoblast. Our aim is to strengthen the importance of an early diagnosis and multidisciplinary perspective. Uterine artery embolization was the key to minimizing bleeding, enabling a treatment that preserved fertility.
RESUMEN
Hereditary angioedema is an autosomal dominant genetic disease that causes tissue edema mediated by bradykinin. The angioedema attacks have several triggers including stress, trauma, infection, and increased estrogens levels. This explains the greater incidence and clinical severity in women, which are usually asymptomatic until puberty, when the attacks begin to occur. It may involve multiple locations on the body, leading to complications, such as surgical intervention prompt by severe acute abdominal pain, and laryngeal edema that can culminate in death from asphyxia. This is of particular concern as this angioedema does not respond to life-saving medications commonly used in its treatment, namely, high doses of second-generation antihistamines, corticosteroids, and epinephrine. Hereditary angioedema attacks are treated with specific medication that includes icatibant, ecallantide, and C1 inhibitor, the latter being also used in short-term and long-term prophylaxis. There are other pharmacological strategies for long-term prophylaxis like lanadelumab, danazol, stanozolol, aminocaproic acid, and tranexamic acid. During pregnancy and lactation, the preferred treatment and prophylaxis is C1 inhibitor. We report a case of hereditary angioedema describing its chronological evolution over a period of a woman's life, and highlighting some of the specificities of this pathology that intersect with the specialty of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Our aim is to draw attention to these particularities, namely the triggering factors of crisis, the need for high suspicion of the diagnosis, and the treatment and prophylaxis options for pregnant and non-pregnant women that can make the difference between life and death. To achieve a favorable outcome, the multidisciplinary teamwork between the specialties of Immunoallergology and Obstetrics and Gynecology was crucial.