@article{ref1,
title="Detection of unknown early pregnancy. A matter of safety",
journal="Postgraduate medicine",
year="1988",
author="Lippmann, S. and Bordador, B. and Shaltout, T.",
volume="83",
number="8",
pages="129-31, 135",
abstract="Female patients are sometimes medically treated, especially under emergency conditions, without knowing whether they are pregnant. As a result, medical procedures such as radiologic examinations and teratogenic substances are sometimes administered to them with adverse consequences. An easy and reliable means of detecting early unknown pregnancy is therefore important. A serum HCG test was performed on all women of childbearing age except obstetric and psychiatric patients admitted to Humana Hospital University of Louisville over a 10-day period in 1986. No physicians in the hospital were aware of the testing except the researchers and the clinical laboratory director. Of 110 patients tested, 2 had elevated test values and turned out to be pregnant; neither pregnancy had been detected on admission. The 1st woman had been admitted to hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and a 2nd-degree burn. Before HCG test results were received, several chest x-rays were administered to her. The 2nd woman was admitted for treatment of a head injury and lacerations received in an automobile accident. She likewise received several x-ray examinations before HCG testing revealed her pregnancy. HCG testing has proven to be a simple and reliable means of detecting pregnancy as early as 10 days after nidation. Such testing can be very useful, particularly in emergency situations, when non-traumatic health conditions can easily be overlooked.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0032-5481",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}