[Hormone analyses and ultrasound examinations in high-risk early weeks of pregnancy (author's transl)].

The serum concentrations of HCG, HPL, progesterone and oestriol and ultrasonic findings were compared with one another in 42 women with normal pregnancy course, 51 women with haemorrhages and abortion and 27 women with haemorrhages and delivery on time. Correct diagnosis was most frequently possible with the help of ultrasound examination. However, it was possible to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis before the twelfth week of pregnancy by means of hormone analysis. If the hormone concentrations were normal, whereas ultrasound findings were either negative or not clear, intact pregnancy could be assumed. HCG and progesterone determination possessed the advantage of being reliably measurable even before cessation of menstrual bleeding. From the eighth to ninth weeks of pregnancy, determinations of HPL were also suitable for assessing endocrinal functions. After the twelfth week of pregnancy, the pregnancy conditions could be judged most safely by the ultrasound method.