BETA-HCG AS A DIAGNOSTIC-AID FOR SUSPECTED ECTOPIC PREGNANCY

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  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 56  (2) , 197-203
Abstract
During 13 mo. from Nov. 1, 1977, through Nov. 30, 1978, 283 patients underwent radioimmunoassay (RIA) for determination of serum .beta.-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (.beta.-hCG) to rule out ectopic pregnancy. The records of 234 patients were available for statistical analysis and of these, 188 (80%) had negative results, defined as less than 1 ng/ml. The ectopic group comprised 22 patients, all of whom had elevated .beta.-hCG levels. There were no false-negative results in either group. Patients with suspected ectopic pregnancy had symptoms similar to patients previously reported in the literature with proved ectopic pregnancies. The most common presenting symptoms of those with suspected ectopic pregnancy were abdominal pain (91%), amenorrhea (76%), irregular bleeding (68%) and adnexal mass (55%). Some 73 patients presented with the classic triad of pain, uterine bleeding and adnexal mass. Only 10 (14%) had ectopic pregnancies. Urine pregnancy tests were of no benefit in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy and confused the clinicians in some instances. In patients with suspected ectopic pregnancy, a negative .beta.-hCG by the RIA technique ruled out ectopic pregnancy in 100% of the cases.