Major risk factor for ectopic pregnancy?

• A. Alcohol intake.
• B. Young maternal age.
• C. History of salpingitis.
• D. Low dose oral contraceptive use.

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is that damage to the fallopian tubes from inflammation or infection makes it easy for a fertilized egg to implant where it shouldn’t. Salpingitis, a form of pelvic inflammatory disease that scars the tubes, disrupts normal tubal movement and embryo transport. This scarring creates a high risk that the embryo will implant in the tube itself rather than traveling to the uterus, leading to an ectopic pregnancy.

Alcohol intake doesn’t directly cause tubal scarring or disrupt tubal transport in the same way, so it isn’t a major risk factor. Young maternal age isn’t a strong predictor of ectopic pregnancy. Low-dose oral contraceptives actually reduce the chance of pregnancy occurring in the first place, and thus don’t increase the risk of an ectopic pregnancy; they’re protective in that sense.