Pregnancy Loss and Ectopic: Diagnosis and Investigation
Diagnose miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy using clinical, biochemical and ultrasound evidence.
How to prepare for MRCOG Part 2
Build a complete clinical map, then rehearse diagnosis, test selection and interpretation, management, prognosis and patient-centred safety in current UK practice.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Symptoms, haemodynamic assessment, pregnancy location and viability, serial hCG, ultrasound and differential diagnosis.
Exam cue: Identify the clinical domain and exact task before reviewing the option list.
Concept 2
Integrate symptoms, gestation, trends and imaging while respecting diagnostic uncertainty and follow-up thresholds.
Exam cue: Use gestation, urgency, trend, prior treatment and patient preference to rank plausible answers.
Concept 3
Escalate suspected rupture, major bleeding, sepsis and clinical deterioration regardless of an earlier reassuring result.
Exam cue: Choose the safest proportionate action for the stated point in care and know when multidisciplinary escalation is required.
Concept 4
Use current UK obstetric and gynaecological guidance while integrating diagnosis, investigations, management and epidemiology.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Using one hCG value or scan threshold as absolute without the clinical state, trend and required repeat assessment.
Guardrail: Do not choose a possible diagnosis or later definitive intervention when the question asks for the single best answer at this exact point in care.
Choosing a theoretically possible answer rather than the single best option at this point in the pathway.
Guardrail: Do not choose a possible diagnosis or later definitive intervention when the question asks for the single best answer at this exact point in care.
Inventing a paper-specific or Knowledge Area weighting that RCOG has not published.
Guardrail: Only the 40% SBA and 60% EMQ mark split is official; RCOG publishes no numerical Knowledge Area or paper-specific allocation.
Memory anchors
Pregnancy Loss and Ectopic: Diagnosis and Investigation: scope
Symptoms, haemodynamic assessment, pregnancy location and viability, serial hCG, ultrasound and differential diagnosis.
Pregnancy Loss and Ectopic: Diagnosis and Investigation: clinical reasoning
Integrate symptoms, gestation, trends and imaging while respecting diagnostic uncertainty and follow-up thresholds.
Pregnancy Loss and Ectopic: Diagnosis and Investigation: safety boundary
Escalate suspected rupture, major bleeding, sepsis and clinical deterioration regardless of an earlier reassuring result.
Pregnancy Loss and Ectopic: Diagnosis and Investigation: common trap
Using one hCG value or scan threshold as absolute without the clinical state, trend and required repeat assessment.
Pregnancy Loss and Ectopic: Diagnosis and Investigation: Part 2 sequence
Define the diagnosis or decision, select and interpret the investigation, compare management options, then check epidemiology, prognosis and patient-centred safety.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
A patient at 7 weeks' gestation has unilateral pelvic pain, shoulder-tip pain, dizziness and light bleeding. What diagnosis must be assumed until excluded?
A stable patient has a positive pregnancy test, pain and no intrauterine or ectopic pregnancy visible on transvaginal ultrasound. What is the correct classification?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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