Ahmad, good to know that we've both converted from obs / gynae :)
>? ectopic: I don't think a pregnancy test would make much
>difference, specially if negative.
The urine tests (eg ClearView) are extremely sensitive, down to 50IU (I think).
If it's negative then you can be virtually certain it's not an ectopic. Few
gynaecologists would scope a ? ectopic with a negative pregnancy test. Although
I'll grant that the serum assay will be twice as sensitive it really is rare
for ectopics to have levels this low.
As an aside, how many people have access to quantitative beta-HCG estimations ?
These can be very useful in situations where there's an equivocal scan and a
possible miscarriage. Rather than have to wait for a week or two for another
scan, the distraught woman can have a far clearer idea about what's going on
within two days depending on whether the level falls or rises in the normal way.
Pete
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