Monitoring of Clomid-hMG-hCG controlled ovulation by ultrasound and a rapid (15 minutes) total urinary estrogen assay.

A simple and rapid assay for estimation of total urinary estrogens is presented. The test is based on a commercial latex agglutination inhibition assay designed for urinary estrogens in pregnancy. To obtain the appropriate sensitivity range for the application of the test it was necessary to concentrate the urine using self contained C 18 mini cartridges. A fairly good correlation was found between the obtained values from the urine and estradiol-17 beta estimated by radio-immunoassay in serum (correlation coefficient r = 0,77). Comparing those results and regarding the number of follicles present at ultrasonic examination, and/or laparoscopy a value of 23,79-31,29 mg/l TE in urine/follicle was calculated according to 300-400 pg/ml serum/follicle, at which ovulation should be induced. Even withstanding the inherent limitations of this semiquantitative test and some loss of precision in terms of absolute values, when combined with ultrasound, excellent guidelines were established by this rapid and simple test to determine ovulation induction by hCG.