A capillary tube pregnancy test.
The experience with a new, simple, and sensitive capillary tube pregnancy test requiring no refrigeration is described. The results of this test and other tests are compared against histologic results. The 1/2 unit capillary test, defined as having a sensitivity of 0.5 I.U. of HCG per milliliter, had a higher percentage of agreement with histopathologic results (99.65 per cent) than all other tests studied. The false-positive rate was 0.07 per cent and the false-negative rate was 0.28 per cent. In this series of 1,486 tests, 21 cases of pregnancy, identified by a 1/2 unit test, were missed by one or two unit tests. The earliest detection of pregnancy by the 1/2 unit capillary test confirmed by histology was 3 weeks from the last menstrual period (four cases).
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011258:Pregnancy Tests / Q000379:methods*