[The value of determinations of human chorionic gonatrophin, human placental lactogen, progesterone and oestriol in women with threatened abortion (author's transl)].

During the antenatal care of 604 women 1629 blood samples for hormonal tests were collected. The values in 417 women with normal pregnancies were used to establish a normal curve with 99% tolerance for the serum concentrations of human chorionic gonatrophin (HCG), human placental lactogen (HPL), progesterone and oestriol. Of the 604 women 187 had bleeding during the first half of the pregnancy. Of these 187 women 57 carried the pregnancy to term and 130 had a miscarriage. Women with the symptoms of threatened abortion who carried the pregnancy to term had normal serum hormone values. The HCG values in this group were higher than normal at the time of bleeding. In 90% of the women with threatened abortion who miscarried prior to 16 weeks gestation (N = 87) and in all patients with a missed abortion (N = 16) 1 or more serum hormone concentrations were below normal. Women with early pregnancy bleeding and late abortion between 17 and 28 weeks (N = 27) showed 1 or more low hormone concentration in only 25% of the cases. Our findings show that the quantitative determination of HCG and progesterone give the most valuable tests for the evaluation of the endocrine system in the first trimester of pregnancy. In the second trimester HCG determinations are of value only in trophoblast disease. To a lesser degree determination of HPL and oestriol are of prognostic value in the second trimester of the pregnancy.