Human Chorionic Gonadotropin ... Health Article

Normal results

A woman should notify her physician immediately if her home pregnancy test is positive. Pregnancy can then be confirmed with hCG urine or blood tests taken in the doctor's office and evaluated by laboratory personnel. If performed accurately, home pregnancy tests have been found to be highly reliable. However, the versions of these tests performed by qualified laboratory technologists are considered to be definitive. Often, such a test will produce positive results before a woman experiences symptoms or before a doctor's exam reveals signs of pregnancy.

BOOKS

Cunningham, F. Gary, ed. Williams Obstetrics. 20th ed. Stamford: Appleton & Lang, 1977.

PERIODICALS

Bastian, L. A., et al. "Is This Patient Pregnant?" The Journal of the American Medical Association 278, no. 7: 586-591.

Peredy, T. R., and R. D. Powers. "Bedside Diagnostic Testing of Body Fluids." American Journal of Emergency Medicine 15, no. 4: 404-405.

"Pregnancy Tests: They Can't Get Much Simpler Than This." Consumer Reports, Oct. 1996, 48-49.

OTHER

"Reliable Ways to Find Out if You're Pregnant or Ready to Conceive." Mayo Clinic Online. 29 Feb. 1998 <http://www.mayohealth.org>.

Betty Mishkin

KEY TERMS

Ectopic pregnancy—A pregnancy that develops outside of the mother's uterus. Ectopic pregnancies often cause severe pain in the lower abdomen and are potentially life-threatening because of the massive blood loss that may occur as the developing embryo/fetus ruptures and damages the tissues in which it has implanted.

Embyro—In humans, the developing individual from the time of implantation to about the end of the second month after conception. From the third month to the point of delivery, the individual is called a fetus.

Hormone—A chemical produced by a specific organ or tissue of the body that is released into the bloodstream in order to exert an effect in another part of the body.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)—A hormone produced by the placenta of a developing pregnancy.

Hydatidform mole—A rare, generally benign grape-like mass that grows in the uterus from the remains of an abnormally developed embryo and surrounding tissue. In extremely rare cases, the mole develops into a choriocarcinoma, a malignant tumor whose cells can invade the wall of the uterus.

Implantation—The attachment of the fertilized egg or embryo to the wall of the uterus.

Menstrual cycle—A hormonally regulated series of monthly events that occur during the reproductive years of the human female to ensure that the proper internal environment exists for fertilization, implantation, and development of a baby. Each month, a mature egg is released from the follicle of an ovary. If an egg is released, fertilized, and implanted, the lining of the uterus continues to build. If fertilization and/or implantation does not occur, the egg and all of the excess uterine lining are shed from the body during menstruation.

Miscarriage—Loss of the embryo or fetus and other products of pregnancy before the middle of the second trimester. Often, early in a pregnancy, if the condition of the baby and/or the mother's uterus are not compatible with sustaining life, the pregnancy stops, and the contents of the uterus are expelled. For this reason, miscarriage is also referred to as spontaneous abortion.

Placenta—The organ that unites the developing new life (first called an embryo and later a fetus) to the mother's uterus. The placenta produces hCG, among other hormones, to help maintain the pregnancy. After delivery, the placenta, known at this point as afterbirth, is expelled.