DEPARTMENT OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
USA HCG
REFERENCE SERVICE
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REFERRAL WITH USA hCG REFERENCE SERVICE
To refer a patient to the USA hCG Reference service click here
READ DR. COLE'S NEW EXTENSIVE REVIEW ARTICLES ABOUT THE USA HCG REFERENCE SERVICE EXPERIENCE, hCG BIOLOGY, hCG TESTS, AND hCG, HYPERGLYCOSYLATED hCG AND FREE ß-SUBUNIT LEVELS IN DIFFERENT CLINICAL CONDITIONS
DESCRIPTION
The USA hCG Reference Service is a specialized consulting service that aids physicians in cases with persistent low levels of hCG, the diagnoses of trophoblast disease, cancer, false positive hCG, pituitary hCG, testicular cancer and other conditions presenting with abnormal levels of hCG.
The hCG test, or pregnancy test, is one of the most common immunoassays run in clinical laboratories today. It is assumed that an hCG assay detects only hCG or hCGß. This is not the case. hCG kits can detect a wide and varying range of different hCG-related molecules in serum or urine samples. These include hCG dissociation and degradation products, like the free ß-subunit, nicked hCG and ß-subunit core fragment (click here to see illustration of the synthesis and degradation of hCG). It also includes hyperglycosylated hCG a variant of hCG with separate biological functions (click here to see description), and a pituitary gland-produced variant of hCG (click here to see description).
The USA hCG Reference Service first determines whether the hCG being detected in another assay is real hCG, rather than false positive hCG caused by interfering antibodies (click here to see description). It then measures total hCG in multiple commercial hCG tests in blood and urine, at multiple dilutions. It then measures all known hCG variants including free ß-subunit, hyperglycosylated hCG and ß-core fragment. Conclusions are then made about the clinical nature and source of hCG. The conclusions are all based on multiple peer-reviewer articles published by different authors throughout the world (see links below, and references listed).
The USA hCG reference service commonly identifies and aids physicians and laboratories in the differential diagnosis of -
1. False
positive hCG
2. Active invasive gestational trophoblastic
disease, Choriocarcinoma and GTN
3. Minimally invasive gestational trophoblastic
neoplams
3. Quiescent (inactive) gestational
trophoblastic disease
4. Active testicular germ cell malignancies
5. PSTT (Placental site trophoblastic tumor)
6. Ovarian germ cell and other non-trophoblastic
hCG-producing
malignancies
7. Pituitary origin hCG in peri- or
post-menopausal women
8. Ectopic pregnancy or
spontaneously-aborting pregnancy
Further information and references on each of these potential diagnoses may be obtained by clicking on the links above (1 - 8) to each of the diagnoses.
For information on hCG click on these links
A. The synthesis and degradation of hCG, and hCG variants
B. The properties and biological function of hyperglycosylated hCG
REFERRAL WITH USA hCG REFERENCE SERVICE
To refer a patient to the USA hCG Reference service click here