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Determination of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in Postmortem Samples in Ectopic Pregnancies
Author(s) -
Palmiere Cristian,
Lesta Maria del Mar,
Fanton Laurent,
Ventura Francesco,
Bonsignore Alessandro,
Reggiani Bonetti Luca
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12885
Subject(s) - human chorionic gonadotropin , ectopic pregnancy , medicine , gonadotropin , cerebrospinal fluid , autopsy , pregnancy , gestational age , immunoassay , hormone , gynecology , physiology , endocrinology , andrology , biology , antibody , immunology , genetics
Increased human chorionic gonadotropin levels ( HCG ) can be detected in femoral blood, bile, and vitreous humor collected during autopsy of pregnant women using a standard kit designed for living patients. In the study herein, the concentrations of HCG were measured in postmortem serum, vitreous, bile, cerebrospinal, and pericardial fluids in 4 cases of fatal ectopic pregnancy and 40 controls using a quantitative electrochemiluminescence immunoassay designed for living patients. No false‐negative cases were identified in any of the analyzed samples in any of the ectopic pregnancy cases. No correlations were found between total HCG levels in postmortem serum and the other tested specimens. The results of this study would suggest that higher HCG in bile, vitreous, pericardial, and cerebrospinal fluids may confirm the existence of ectopic pregnancy and therefore identify other situations in which this hormone is increased, although gestational age cannot be reliably estimated using these values.