HCG REFERENCE
SERVICE
OTHER IMPORTANT CONTACTS
For your information a list is provided of centers specializing in the treatment of trophoblastic disease, and of other authorities around the world with expertise in the fields of hCG and hCG tests (immunoassays). The names given are alternative contacts that might be able to help you with problems in the treatment of trophoblastic diseases and or the measurement of hCG, hCG-related molecules and degradation products, or phantom hCG.
CENTERS SPECIALIZING IN THE TREATMENT OF TROPHOBLAST DISEASES
The institutes listed are centers or clinics that solely specialize in trophoblast disease, specialists in trophoblastic diseases recognized by obstetrics and gynecology societies in their respective countries, or those who have chaired international conferences on gestational trophoblastic neoplasms.
a. North America
Dr. John Lurain, John I. Brewer Trophoblastic Disease Center and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL, USA
Drs. Donald Goldstein and Ross Berkowitz, New England Trophoblastic Disease Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Dr. John Soper, The Southeastern Regional Trophoblastic Disease Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
Dr. Ernest Kohorn, Yale Trophoblast Disease Center, New Haven, CT, USA
Dr. Roland Pattillo,
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Morehouse School of Medicine,
Atlanta, GA 30310, USA.
b. South America
Dr. Paolo Belfort,
Obstetrics & Gynecology, Rua 19 de Fevereiro, 147 Rio de Janiero,
Brazil
c. Europe
Drs. Edward Newlands and Michael Seckl, Trophoblastic Tumor Screening
and Treatment Centre, Department of Medical Oncology, Charing Cross
Hospital, Middlesex, U.K.
Dr. Barry Hancock, Weston Park Hospital Dept. of Clinical Oncology,
Sheffield, U.K.
Dr. Folke Flam, Department
of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
d. Asia
Dr. Wong Yixun, Liaoning Tumor Hospital, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
Drs. Ling Chui
Rosamond Wong and Hextan Ngan, University of Hong Kong Queen Mary Hospital,
Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
Dr. Shigeru Sasaki, Nippon Medical School, Tama-Nagayama Hospital, Dept.
of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tama Nagayama Hospital, Tama City, Tokyo,
Japan
Dr. V. Sivanesaratnam, Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Dr. S.S. Ratnam, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecolog,y Kandang Kerbau Hospital for Women, Singapore, Singapore
Dr. Seung Jo Kim, Kangnam
St. Mary's Hospital, Catholic University Medical College, Department
of Obstetrics & Gynecology,, Seocho-Gu, Seoul, Korea
e. Australasia
Dr. Stephen Steigrad, Royal Hospital for Women, 188 Oxford Street, Paddington, NSW 2021, AUSTRALIA
SPECIALISTS IN THE ENDOCRINOLOGY, CHEMISTRY AND/OR TESTING OF hCG
This
a is a list of some other scientists throughout the world, widely known
for their knowledge and research in the chemistry, biology and immunoassays
for hCG.
a. North America
Dr. Glenn Braunstein
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
Drs. Steven Birken and John O'Connor, Columbia University College of
Physicians and Surgeons, New York 10032, USA.
Dr. C.V. Rao, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of
Louisville Health Sciences Center, Kentucky 40292, USA
c. Europe
Dr. Urf Stenman, Department
of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Central Hospital, Helsinki,
Finland.
Dr. Dominique Bellet, Service de Biologie Oncologie, Institut
Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
Dr. Ray Iles, Williamson Laboratory for Molecular Oncology, St. Bartholomew's,
UK.
Dr. Peter Berger, Institute of Biomedical Aging Research, Austrian Academy
of Sciences, Innsbruck, Austria
Drs. Rudolf Hoermann and Klauss Mann, Department of Endocrinology, University
of Essen, Essen,Germany
d. Asia
Dr. Ryuichiro Nishimura,
Hyogo Institute of Clinical Research, Kitaoji cho, Akashi, Japan.
e. Australasia
Dr. Rob Norman, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Adelaide, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Australia
hCG Reference Service HOME PAGE
hCG Reference
Service Report 2002
Principal of hCG test and of discordant results
Synthesis and degradation of hCG
Specialized tests at hCG Reference Service
False positive of phantom hCG tests
Potential sources of hCG in and outside of pregnancy
hCG levels during normal pregnancy
Refer a patient to the hCG Reference Service
Other important contacts
hCG
Reference Service HOME PAGE
introduction
to hCG and the hCG Reference Service
hCG Reference Service
Report 2002
medical report on the experience of the
hCG Reference Service, 1997-2002, with false positive hCG results,
quiescent gestational trophoblastic disease and unexplained elevated hCG.
The report also examines and compares the performance of professional
laboratory hCG tests.
Principal
of hCG test and causes of discordant results
how the hCG test works and why sometimes it gives discord or erroneous
results
Synthesis
and degradation of hCG
the production of hCG in trophoblast cells, abnormal production, and dissociation,
nicking and degradation of hCG after secretion
Specialized
tests at hCG Reference Service
the specialized hCG assays run by the hCG Reference Service to help identify
the source and nature of hCG
False
positive of phantom hCG tests
false positive or phantom hCG tests, the mechanisms that cause hCG assays
to give mistaken results, and the potentially devastating clinical consequences
Potential
sources of hCG in and outside of pregnancy
the biological sources of hCG: normal pregnancy, early pregnancy loss,
ectopic pregnancy, gestational Down syndrome, hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma
cells, germ cell and other non-trophoblastic malignancies; pituitary hCG
production, and phantom or false-positive hCG
hCG
levels during normal pregnancy
the widely varying hCG levels observed during the course of normal pregnancy
Refer
a patient to the hCG Reference Service
how to seek help from or refer a patient to the hCG Reference Service,
the samples needed and patients history and insurance requirements
About
Laurence A. Cole, Ph.D.
curriculum vitae of Laurence A. Cole, Ph.D., Director of the hCG Reference
Service
Other important
contacts
centers throughout the world specializing in the treatment of Trophoblastic
Diseases and laboratories and scientists with expert knowledge in the
endocrinology, chemistry and testing for hCG