[Ectopic pregnancy: diagnostic reliability of a new hCG-test (Neo-Pregnosticon)]

We report about the diagnostic reliability of a new commercially available human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) test, a simple hemagglutination test (discriminatory value: 75 U/I), which can be easily performed in any laboratory (Neo-Pregnosticon). Urine samples of 457 patients with unexplained lower abdominal pain and/or abnormal bleeding were analysed. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the test gave values of 0.993 and 1.0, respectively. The predictive value for positive results was 1.0, and for negative results 0.997. By means of this test, we could determine hCG in urine of 40 out of 41 patients with ectopic pregnancy, in contrast to the currently used urine test (Pregnosticon, discriminatory value: 1000 U/I) which was positive in only about 50% of the cases. Due to its accuracy, this simple test will probably replace in the future the more laborious radioimmunological methods for determination of hCG.