Pilot Study to Detect Early Pregnancy and Early Fetal Loss

A 6-month pilot study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of detecting early pregnancy and early fetal loss in a population of healthy women. To ascertain early pregnancy, monthly 3-day morning urine specimens were collected during each woman's late luteal phase. A specific human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-radioimmunoassay, using antibodies against the unique carboxy-terminal portion of β-hCG, was used to determine pregnancy as early as 9 days fetal developmental age. Eight pregnancies have been reported on a clinical basis, one of which ended in a spontaneous abortion. This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of detecting early pregnancy and early fetal loss, and an epidemiological study is now being planned to estimate the rate of fetal loss in a large population to establish a baseline for early pregnancy loss.