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Volume 341:2033-2038 December 30, 1999 Number 27 Next

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ABSTRACT

Background Maternal serum chorionic gonadotropin is measured to screen for fetal chromosomal abnormalities. Whether the results can also be used to predict the risk of complications or an adverse outcome of pregnancy is not known.

Methods We reviewed the medical records of 28,743 girls and women in whom chorionic gonadotropin was measured during the second trimester of pregnancy (between July 1, 1995, and January 31, 1997), seeking information about the complications and outcome of their pregnancies. We excluded girls and women who had preexisting risk factors for complications or an adverse outcome of pregnancy.

Results Higher serum chorionic gonadotropin concentrations were associated with higher rates of stillbirth (odds ratio for every increase in chorionic gonadotropin of 1 multiple of the median, 1.4; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 1.9). There was no relation between higher serum chorionic gonadotropin concentrations and the risk of gestational diabetes, premature rupture of membranes, or intrauterine growth retardation or small size for gestational age (odds ratio, 1.1; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.9 to 1.2). Higher serum chorionic gonadotropin concentrations were associated with a risk of placental abnormalities (odds ratio, 1.5; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.3 to 1.7), pregnancy-induced hypertension (odds ratio, 1.4; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.3 to 1.5), and preterm delivery without pregnancy-induced hypertension (odds ratio, 1.1; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.0 to 1.2). Inclusion in certain racial or ethnic categories (black, Filipino or Pacific Islander, unknown race or ethnic group, and "other," which included those of Middle Eastern descent and Native Americans) was a better predictor of the risk of an adverse outcome than serum chorionic gonadotropin values.

Conclusions Measurements of serum chorionic gonadotropin are of little clinical value for predicting the risk of complications and the outcome of pregnancy.

Source Information

From the Department of Obstetrics (D.L.W.), the Perinatal Screening Section, Department of Genetics (C.T.N., E.J.S.), and the Division of Research (G.T.R., C.J.C.), Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland, Calif. Presented at the 19th annual meeting of the Society for Maternal–Fetal Medicine, San Francisco, January 18–23, 1999, and published in abstract form (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1999;180:Suppl:S68).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Schoen at the Department of Genetics, Perinatal Screening Section, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, 280 W. MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94611-5693, or at edgar.schoen{at}ncal.kaiperm.org.

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