Table 3. Summary data from thirteen studies using hCG detection to diagnose pregnancy and identify early pregnancy loss.
Raw FEC HCG is the ratio of hCG pregnancies detected and the number of cycles monitored in each study. Where available, mean (SD) ages of the participating women are taken directly from the published study. In some cases mean and SD (indicated by *) or SD (indicated by †) were estimated based on published demographic characteristics. §These data relate to the whole study cohort (n=124) which included known sub-fertile women, and not just to the 74 apparently fertile women. ‡Mean value from Wilcox et al. (2001) 84. ¶Some studies only provide data up to late pregnancy (e.g., up to 28 weeks) rather than to term. ND = no data. ¤Wilcox subsequently reported an additional hCG pregnancy which had not been detected and reported in the 1988 paper, making a total of 199 hCG pregnancies and 44 pre-clinical losses in the study group 85. #Mumford reported data from aspirin- and placebo-treated subjects who had at least one prior miscarriage. Summary data from both treatment groups are included as there was no effect of aspirin 79.
| First
author |
Year | Number
of women |
Age mean
(SD) [range] |
Number
of cycles |
hCG
pregnancies detected |
Raw
FEC HCG |
Clinical
pregnancies detected |
% survival
from hCG to clinical detection |
% loss
from hCG detection to live birth ¶ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miller | 1980 | 197 | 27 (4)* | 623 | 152 | 24.4% | 102 | 67.1% | 42.4% |
| Edmonds | 1982 | 82 | 27 (4)* | 198 | 118 | 59.6% | 51 | 43.2% | 61.9% |
| Whittaker | 1983 | 91 | 30 (3.7) † | 226 | 92 | 40.7% | 85 | 92.4% | 19.6% |
| Videla-
Rivero |
1987 | 27 | ND | 27 | 12 | 44.4% | 5 | 41.7% | ND |
| Walker | 1988 | 38 | 27.4 [22–38] | 75 | 25 | 33.3% | 25 | 100% | 16.0% |
| Wilcox | 1988 | 221 | 30 ‡ (4)* | 707 | 198 ¤ | 28.0% | 155 | 78.3% | 31.3% |
| Hakim | 1995 | 74 | 31 (3)* § | 305 | 66 | 21.6% | 52 | 78.8% | 37.9% |
| Zinaman | 1996 | 200 | 30.6 (3.3) | 432 | 116 | 26.9% | 101 | 87.1% | 31.3% |
| Wang | 2003 | 518 | 24.9 (1.7) | 1,561 | 618 | 39.6% | 466 | 75.4% | 35.7% |
| Sasaki | 2008 | 110 | [21–36] | ND | 62 | ND | 50 | 80.6% | 32.3% |
| Koot | 2011 | 46 | 28.7 (3.3) | 103 | 30 | 29.1% | 24 | 80.0% | 26.7% |
| Cole | 2012 | 168 | 28.8 (4.4) | ND | 127 | ND | 99 | 78.0% | 36.2% |
| Mumford | 2016 | 1088 # | 28.7 (4.8) | ND | 785 | ND | 730 | 93.0% | 23.9% |