title: Determination of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in Postmortem Samples in Ectopic Pregnancies.
abstract: Increased human chorionic gonadotropin levels (HCG) can be detected in femoral blood, bile, and vitreous humor collected during autopsy of pregnant women using a standard kit designed for living patients. In the study herein, the concentrations of HCG were measured in postmortem serum, vitreous, bile, cerebrospinal, and pericardial fluids in 4 cases of fatal ectopic pregnancy and 40 controls using a quantitative electrochemiluminescence immunoassay designed for living patients. No false-negative cases were identified in any of the analyzed samples in any of the ectopic pregnancy cases. No correlations were found between total HCG levels in postmortem serum and the other tested specimens. The results of this study would suggest that higher HCG in bile, vitreous, pericardial, and cerebrospinal fluids may confirm the existence of ectopic pregnancy and therefore identify other situations in which this hormone is increased, although gestational age cannot be reliably estimated using these values.
authors.affiliation: CURML, Chemin de la Vulliette 4, 1000, Lausanne 25, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Palmiere
authors.affiliation: CURML, Chemin de la Vulliette 4, 1000, Lausanne 25, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Maria del Mar
authors.initials: Mdel M
authors.lastname: Lesta
authors.affiliation: Institut de Médecine Légale, avenue Rockfeller 12, 69008, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fanton
authors.affiliation: DISSAL, via de Toni 12, 16132, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: DISSAL, via de Toni 12, 16132, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonsignore
authors.affiliation: Policlinico di Modena, via del Pozzo 71, 41124, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reggiani Bonetti
mesh_terms: D001646:Bile / Q000737:chemistry; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D000069236:Pericardial Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D011247:Pregnancy; D011271:Pregnancy, Ectopic / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000473:pathology*; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin
keywords: autopsy; cerebrospinal fluid; ectopic pregnancy; forensic science; human chorionic gonadotropin; pericardial fluid; postmortem biochemistry