Pregnancy Test

From Embryology
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Introduction

File:Pregnancy test

The first of prenatal diagnostic tests. Through history there were a number of supposedly diagnostic tests to determine early pregnancy, the most obvious was the absence of an ongoing menstrual cycle in women of reproductive age. It was not until the early 20th century that the first clinical maternal urine test was developed.[1] A complicated test requiring analysis of changes induced in the immature mouse genital system by hormones present in the maternal urine. The test was replaced by a urine test with either the rabbit (Friedman modification) showing similar changes or frog (Xenopus), that could be induced to lay eggs by similar urine effects. In the 1960's an immunological test for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in either maternal urine or blood led to development in the late 1970's of home pregnancy kits that became simple one step tests in the late 1980's.

See the external link to 2003 online NIH summary, "The Thin Blue Line" and the 2004 review[2] on the history of the home pregnancy test.

Note that there are a number of pathological conditions, such as endocrine tumours and hydatidiform moles, that can also mimic the detected hormonal changes.


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Links: Menstrual Cycle | Week 2 | Implantation | Placenta Development | Pregnancy Test | Hydatidiform Mole
Diagnosis Links: Prenatal Diagnosis | pregnancy test | amniocentesis | chorionic villus sampling | ultrasound | Alpha-Fetoprotein | Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A | Fetal Blood Sampling | Magnetic Resonance Imaging | Computed Tomography | Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing | Fetal Cells in Maternal Blood | Preimplantation Genetic Screening | Comparative Genomic Hybridization | Genome Sequencing | Neonatal Diagnosis | Category:Prenatal Diagnosis | Fetal Surgery | Classification of Diseases | Category:Neonatal Diagnosis

Some Recent Findings

  • Use of a checklist to rule out pregnancy: a systematic review[3] "Safe initiation of contraceptive methods requires that pregnancy be excluded. The World Health Organization has developed a list of criteria to assess pregnancy status. This review was conducted to evaluate the evidence regarding these criteria in excluding pregnancy. Four analyses of data from three studies met inclusion criteria as direct evidence. All were diagnostic accuracy studies of fair quality that evaluated the performance of a pregnancy checklist compared with urine pregnancy test to rule out pregnancy. The performance of the checklist varied, with sensitivity ranging from 55-100% and specificity ranging from 39-89%. The negative predictive value was consistent across studies at 99-100%."

Recent References | References

History

  • 1928 - Bernhard Zondek and Selman Aschheim procedure that measured the increase in gonadotrophic substance in the urine of a pregnant woman.[1][4]
    • Immature mice injection with urine led to ovarian changes after a few days.
    • Xenopus clawed frog replaced mice, injection with urine stimulated the females to lay eggs that were easily seen the next day.
  • 1960s - immunological tests for chorionic gonadotropin.
  • 1972 - Research on hCG at NIH by Judith Vaitukaitis and Griff Ross.
  • 1978 - USA first home pregnancy test kits available.
  • 1988 - first “one step” test, Clearblue Easy, a blue stripe appeared to indicate pregnancy.
Aschheim-Zondek Test 1928small.gif

Aschheim-Zondek Test (1928)

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Adult frogs 01.jpg

Xenopus clawed frogs

Judith Vaitukaitis-Griff Ross-c1971.jpg

Judith Vaitukaitis and Griff Ross (c1971)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Aschheim, S., and Zondek, B., Klin. Wschr., 7 8, 1401 (1928).
  2. ↑ <pubmed>15838116</pubmed>
  3. ↑ <pubmed>23040127</pubmed>
  4. ↑ <pubmed>18741243</pubmed>

Reviews

<pubmed></pubmed> <pubmed></pubmed> <pubmed>22149742</pubmed>

Articles

<pubmed></pubmed> <pubmed></pubmed> <pubmed>19395437</pubmed> <pubmed>1117063</pubmed> <pubmed>4823920</pubmed>

Search Pubmed

Search Pubmed: Pregnancy Test | hCG

Search Bookshelf: Pregnancy Test | Human Chorionic Gonadotropin

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Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, May 5) Embryology Pregnancy Test. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Pregnancy_Test

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© Dr Mark Hill 2024, UNSW Embryology ISBN: 978 0 7334 2609 4 - UNSW CRICOS Provider Code No. 00098G
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