Assessment of rapid radioimmunoassay for urinary β-human chorionic gonadotropin (βhcg-ria) in early pregnancy

Summary

This paper is a preliminary report of the results of a specific, quantitative method of rapid (4.5 h) βhCG-RIA of urine voided at any time for diagnosing early pregnancy. This method was performed in 50 cases. In all of them neither false positive nor false negative reactions were noticed. The βhCG-RIA showed positive results as early as on the 25th day of the menstrual cycle. This method has also been proved to be helpful in the early diagnosis of suspected ectopic pregnancies with negative pregnancy tests, in the detection of incomplete abortion and in the follow-up examination of treated patients with hydatidiform mole or choriocarcinoma. The urine voided at any time could be used as specimen for the rapid βCG-RIA which could be completed in 4.5 hours in our laboratory. The assay was clinically useful because of its shorter incubation time and the possibility of taking the urine as sample in the test instead of the serum specimen.