Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026
Determination of the Procoagulant Activity of Extracellular Vesicle (EV) Using EV-Activated Clotting Time (EV-ACT)
Published on: August 4, 2023
Serum activin A does not predict ectopic pregnancy as a single measurement test, alone or as part of a multi-marker
Joshua Warrick1, Ann Gronowski, Courtney Moffett
1Washington University School of Medicine, Pathology and Immunology, St. Louis, MO 63110, United States. jwarrick@path.wustl.edu
Background:
To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of activin A alone or in a multi-marker panel for the prediction of ectopic pregnancy (EP).
Methods:
A retrospective analysis was performed on a cohort of 289 women who presented to the emergency department (ED) with vaginal bleeding and/or abdominal pain/cramping and were diagnosed with EP, spontaneous abortion, or viable intrauterine pregnancy. Serum progesterone, hCG, and activin A concentrations were measured on the samples obtained in the ED. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the clinical utility of these biomarkers as single measurement and as a multi-marker panel test for ectopic pregnancy. Women ≥18 y with vaginal bleeding or abdominal pain/cramping.
Results:
Progesterone (<10 ng/ml), hCG (<6,699 IU/l), and activin A (<0.26 ng/ml) cutoffs were optimized by ROC analysis. These demonstrated sensitivities of 62.9%, 74.2%, and 59.6%, and specificities of 60.5%, and 63.0%, and 61.0% respectively for detecting EP. The multi-marker panel utilizing all three biomarkers had a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 69%.
Conclusion:
Serum activin A cannot be used as a single measurement or in a multi-marker panel with progesterone and hCG to predict EP.
