[Radioimmunologic and radioreceptor analysis of human chorionic gonadotropin for the diagnosis and control of ectopic pregnancy].

The authors report here their studies on the use of a radioreceptor assay study of HCG for the diagnosis and management of ectopic pregnancy. Seven blood samples were collected before, during and three days after the surgical intervention; their HCG content was assayed with a radioreceptor method and the results were compared with those of radioimmunological method. The radioreceptor assay, with a sensitivity of 200 mUI/ml, has provided 85% reliability in detecting pregnancy, the radioimmunoassay the 100%. A case of ectopic resorbing pregnancy showed a HCG content of 25 mUI/ml (RIA) and a RRA negative; the low concentration of hcg caused the negativity of RRA, the sensibility of which is too low in this case. A deeper analysis of the technical results shows some possible sources of error.