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Circulating levels of placental protein 14 in ectopic pregnancy
I Stabile1, F Olajide, T Chard
1Joint Academic Unit of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Physiology, Royal London Hospital, UK.
Objective:
To determine circulating levels of placental protein 14 (PP14) in complications of early pregnancy.
Design:
Biochemical monitoring of women presenting with vaginal bleeding and/or abdominal pain.
Setting:
An emergency gynaecological ultrasound clinic in a London teaching hospital.
Subjects:
Venous blood samples were obtained from 67 women with normal pregnancy (n = 9), ectopic pregnancy (n = 26) and failed intrauterine pregnancy (n = 32). This group included anembryonic pregnancy (n = 18), missed miscarriage (n = 2), spontaneous miscarriage of a previously demonstrated live fetus (n = 6), incomplete miscarriage (n = 4), complete miscarriage (n = 1) and molar pregnancy (n = 1).
Main Outcome Measures:
Serum PP14 levels in the group of women with a failed intrauterine pregnancy in relation to the normal range for PP14.
Results:
Eighty-one percent of women who miscarried spontaneously had normal serum PP14 levels; 81% of women with ectopic pregnancy had depressed (< 5th centile) serum PP14 levels.
Conclusion:
Measurements of PP14 may be useful in distinguishing spontaneous miscarriage from ectopic pregnancy, but not in the management of threatened miscarriage.