A 1-hour hCG radioimmunoassay detection kit for the management of suspected ectopic pregnancy.

The value of a rapid hCG kit was assessed in 60 patients undergoing laparoscopy or laparotomy for suspected ectopic pregnancy, of whom 30 were subsequently proven to be pregnant. A high degree of specificity (93%) and sensitivity (97%) was found, with one false-negative and three false-positive results. If the kit had been used as a routine on admission three patients would not have been inadvertently discharged before the diagnosis of tubal pregnancy and 27 could have avoided a laparoscopy to exclude tubal pregnancy.