Tubal pregnancy--reappraisal of incidence.

A longitudinal study of tubal pregnancies diagnosed and treated from 1967 to 1980 revealed a biphasic incidence with a rise after 1975. This rise was in effect due to a 'jump' in the rate of early diagnosed unruptured tubal pregnancies. The study results suggest that with the use of modern diagnostic methods, we are now detecting early cases of tubal pregnancy some of which, had they not been diagnosed, might have self-terminated.