title: Tubal pregnancy: significance of serum and peritoneal fluid alpha-amylase.
abstract: Thirty women with a histopathologically confirmed tubal ectopic pregnancy and 50 women with an intrauterine pregnancy of 12 weeks or less were studied. Serum alpha-amylase was found to be lower in women with a tubal pregnancy than in those with a normal pregnancy. Peritoneal fluid obtained by culdocentesis from women with a tubal pregnancy contained alpha-amylase concentrations that were consistently higher than the corresponding serum alpha-amylase concentrations, but not to a degree that it could be used as a reliable screening test.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000201:enzymology*; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011274:Pregnancy, Tubal / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000516:alpha-Amylases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000516:alpha-Amylases