00 



ON THE FATE OF THE HUMAN EMBRYO IN TUBAL PREGNANCY. 



fallen entirely into pieces. The change in these specimens indicates that the process 

 was probably of short duration, as it is marked by extremely severe destructive 

 changes. A comparison of the different varieties of ova obtained from the tube 

 with the pathological ova obtained from the uterus is given in table 8. 



Of the group of 13 normal specimens spoken of repeatedly, about 8 came to the 

 laboratory ruptured and 1 was in the act of aborting; another was about to rupture 

 (see table 5). Of 25 specimens containing pathological embryos only 6 were 

 ruptured, showing again that ruptured specimens usually contain normal embryos. 

 In other words, a live normal embryo is probably far more dangerous to the mother 

 than a pathological one. 



TABLE 8. Varieties of ova obtained from lubal pregnancy compared irith 

 pathological ova obtained from the uterus. 



It is impossible to obtain any satisfactory data regarding the percentage of the 

 different varieties of specimens obtained from tubal pregnancies. This fact has 

 also been pointed out by Werth, who, however, expresses the opinion that only a 

 small minority of tubal pregnancies live beyond the first month. Of those that 

 become well embedded in the tube wall only a small percentage survive for any 

 length of time, and probably much less than 1 per cent come to maturity. The 

 chief difficulty in obtaining good statistics is that too few specimens fall into a 

 single hand for study. Thus, our own specimens are only numerous enough to 

 indicate the probable proportions. It is even impossible to obtain figures regarding 

 the frequency of tubal pregnancy. The number of operations in a given hospital 

 compared with the total number of patients does not give us any index at all of the 

 true percentage. In fact, surgeons express very different opinions regarding the 

 frequency of this affliction in different districts. Some state that it never occurs in 

 colonial countries; others that it is uncommon in rural districts; and others that 

 it is frequently encountered in cities. A parallel here with the probable prevalence 

 of venereal disease is at once apparent. Beyond this we can not go at present. 



In order to make comparison between the ova and embryos in tubal pregnancy 

 and those obtained from the uterus, I shall first give a table modified somewhat 



