Test your knowledge on ankylosing spondylitis and ectopic pregnancy
Vol.17, No.07, August 2009

Next month, we’ll be featuring articles on ankylosing spondylitis and ectopic pregnancy. Test your knowledge on these subjects by distinguishing truth from fiction in the statements below.

1 Men are twice as likely as women to develop AS.

  • True
  • False

2 As with many chronic inflammatory diseases, in ankylosing spondylitis the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein levels are often elevated.

  • True
  • False

3 Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and rheumatoid factor are also typically present, as in many autoimmune diseases.

  • True
  • False

4 Methotrexate is a standard first-line therapy in AS.

  • True
  • False

5 Methotrexate is a standard first-line therapy in uncomplicated, unruptured ectopic pregnancy.

  • True
  • False

6 Most women diagnosed with ectopic pregnancy have one or more recognized risk factors for the condition (i.e. pelvic inflammatory disease, tubal scarring, infertility or smoking).

  • True
  • False

7 Ectopic pregnancy is the commonest life-threatening emergency in the first trimester of pregnancy.

  • True
  • False

8 Fortunately, the frequency of ectopic pregnancy has been declining in recent years.

  • True
  • False
ANSWER
  1. True
  2. True
  3. False. These markers are generally absent.
  4. False. Methotrexate has shown no benefit in AS.
  5. True. Intramuscular methotrexate is commonly used in lower-risk women no evidence of ectopic fetal heartbeat or tubal rupture.
  6. False. More than half of women diagnosed with ectopic pregnancy have no identifiable risk factors.
  7. True.
  8. False. Far from declining, the frequency of diagnosed ectopic pregnancy has risen sharply in recent decades. It quadrupled between 1970 and 1992, going from 4.5 to 19.7 cases per 1000 pregnancies.
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