IN THIS ARTICLE
- Clinical presentation and evaluation
- Terminology table
- Outcome for the case patient
A 36-year-old Bengali woman with a history of well-controlled diabetes presents to the emergency department with complaints of feeling “unwell” for about two weeks. She does not speak English, and a hospital-provided phone translator is used to obtain history and explain hospital course. The patient is vague regarding symptomatology, describing general malaise and tiredness. She says she became “much worse” two days ago and has shaking chills, sore throat, headache, and nonproductive cough, but she denies shortness of breath or chest pain. She also developed nausea and vomiting, stating, “I can’t keep anything down.”
She has not recently traveled out of the country and has no known sick contacts. Influenza activity is high in the area, and the patient has not received immunization. She had a “normal” menstrual period two weeks ago and firmly states, “There is no way I can be pregnant.” She admits to vaginal “spotting” off and on for the past two weeks without abdominal pain. She is married with six children and has no history of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or induced abortion; she is not taking any form of birth control.
On exam, the patient is tachycardic, with a heart rate of 127 beats/min, and has a fever of 103.3°F. Blood pressure, respiratory rate, and pulse oximetry are normal. She appears unwell and dehydrated. Her mucous membranes are dry, but no skin rash is noted. There is no tonsillar swelling or exudate and no meningismus; the lung exam is clear, with no adventitious sounds. Abdominal exam demonstrates mild, generalized tenderness in the lower abdomen without peritoneal signs. No costovertebral angle tenderness is noted. Initial diagnostic considerations include sources of fever (eg, influenza, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, viral illness), or abdominal sources, such as appendicitis.
An upright anteroposterior chest x-ray shows no infiltrate, pleural effusion, or cardiomegaly. Laboratory results include a high white blood cell (WBC) count (16.9 k/mm3) with bandemia and normal electrolytes without anion gap. Rapid influenza A and B testing is negative. A urine pregnancy test is positive, and the urinalysis shows no infection but +2 ketones. Rh factor is positive. A serum quantitative β-hCG is 130,581 mIU/mL. Blood cultures are obtained, but results are not available.
Due to cultural differences, the patient is very reluctant to consent to a pelvic exam. After extensive counseling, she agrees to a bimanual exam only. The uterus is boggy and enlarged to about 12 weeks. There is exquisite uterine tenderness and purulent discharge on the gloved finger. The cervical os is closed, and there is scant bleeding.
A transvaginal ultrasound is obtained; it reveals a thickened endometrium with echogenicity, without increased vascularity, and no identifiable intrauterine pregnancy. The adnexa have no masses, and there is no free fluid in the endometrium (see Figures 1 and 2).
The patient is given broad-spectrum antibiotics and urgently transported to the operating room by Ob-Gyn for uterine evacuation. She is found to have a septic abortion due to retained products of conception (RPOC) from an incomplete miscarriage.
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