A METHOD OF SCREENING FOR ECTOPIC PREGNANCY AND ITS INDICATIONS

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  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 58  (2) , 162-166
Abstract
The possibility of distinguishing between normal intrauterine and ectopic pregnancies by determining the lower limit of the rate of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) increase in early pregnancy was investigated. This can be expressed as the slope of the log hCG time curve or as the percent increase in hCG over a given sampling interval. The rate is most easily determined from 2 samples drawn 48 h apart. The difference between the 2 hCG values obtained is expressed as a percentage of the initial value and should be 66% or greater for this sampling interval. Approximately 15% of normal intrauterine pregnancies screened in this way will appear abnormal, and the diagnosis in 13% of ectopic pregnancies will be delayed beyond 48 h.