Intrauterine pregnancy with a nonviable embryo and abnormal HCG rise is most consistent with which finding?

• A. Incomplete abortion
• B. Anembryic
• C. Pseudocyesis
• D. Subchorionic hemorrhage

Answer: (A)

When a pregnancy stops growing but tissue remains inside the uterus, the situation is described as incomplete abortion. In this scenario, the HCG may not rise normally because the pregnancy isn’t progressing, and some products of conception stay behind in the uterus even after part of the tissue has expelled. On ultrasound, this appears as retained products of conception within the uterine cavity—echogenic, sometimes irregular or heterogeneous material filling part of the endometrial canal. There may be little or no obvious fetal cardiac activity, reflecting the nonviable state, and the cervical os may be closed or only slightly open depending on timing. This retained intrauterine tissue distinguishes incomplete abortion from anembryonic pregnancy (gestational sac without an embryo) or from subchorionic hemorrhage (crescent-shaped bleed around the sac).