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Abstract
The incidence of ectopic pregnancy showed a sharp increase in the industrialized countries in the late 1970s. This resulted in an epidemic of ectopic pregnancy in the 1980s. At present the incidence of ectopic pregnancy has levelled off or even decreased. In the meantime the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy has improved markedly, which means that the detection of this disease can take place very early in the first trimester of pregnancy. This has led to the use of more conservative treatment modalities and to a better prognosis for further pregnancies. Medical treatment, especially with methotrexate, has largely replaced the radical surgical option, and the treatment of ectopic pregnancy is most obviously moving to the direction of these conservative, medical approaches.