Abstract
Nowadays the serum analytic investigations have become the first step, noninvasive, detecting method of choice of foetal abnormalities specially for at-risk patients.
This study volenteers were Saudi pregnant women in King Khalid General Hospital (KKGH) at Majmaah city, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The study intended to judge and evaluate using the concentrations of Beta Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (βHCG) in serum as efficient maternal markers for early detection as well as management of foetal abnormalities and pregnancy complications.
A total of 201 serum samples were studied. 101 sera of pregnant women were taken in the first trimester, while the other 100 non-pregnant females were acted as control volenteers. The sensitive Enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) method was applied for quantitative scoring of beta HCG levels. Pregnant women were followed up by a consultant obstetrician till delivery. Trisomy 21 and blighted ovum disorders were selected as cases of interest.
Serum βHCG concentrations multiple of median (MoM) for the mothers of affected babies compared with the healthy ones. Defrences were significant as p: value showed 0.001 for each appraisal.
Non-pregnant serum beta HCG (2.1 IU/ml) compared with only three weeks of gestation (576 IU/ml) for early detection of pregnancy. Upon comparison a significant high level of β HCG was recorded for the three weeks gestation with (p,value:0.001) which clearly indicates the existence of pregnancy.
The use of β HCG could be the method of choice for early detection of pregnancy. This will save the embryo life during the first trimester of gestation especially in the radiology departments.