A heteropic pregnancy is a pregnancy in two separate locations, usually one pregnancy is inside the uterus, the other pregnancy is located usually as an ectopic pregnancy, outside the uterus.
A heterotopic pregnancy is a very rare complication of pregnancy occuring in about 1 in 30,000 pregnancies, and about 10-times higher in women undergoing ovulation induction or other reproductive medicine therapy like in-vitro fertilization.
In a heterotopic pregnancy there are two scenarios of separate pregnancies simultaneously:
- One pregnancy is extra-uterine (ectopic pregnancy) and one pregnancy is an intrauterine pregnancy
- Both pregnancies are extra-uterine, both are ectopic pregnancies
A heterotopic pregnancy is also named a a combined ectopic pregnancy, multiple‑sited pregnancy, or coincident pregnancy.
Diagnosis can sometimes be difficult and treatment depends on the symptoms and locations of the pregnancies.
Occasionally, an ectopic pregnancy is first treated, only to realize that there is also an intrauterine or another ectopic pregnancy. At other times, the patient has a miscarriage of the intrauterine pregnancy, only to find out later that there is also an ectopic pregnancy.