Patient's question:
What does HCG testing mean? Is it a urine test?Is it normal to take a urine test after medication abortion, meaning that the uterine cavity has been cleared clean...
Doctor's answer:
Hello, HCG Testing and Its Significance:How can you be certain whether you are pregnant, whether it is a true or false pregnancy, an ectopic pregnancy, or intrauterine fetal development issues?
During the early stages of pregnancy, ultrasound cannot provide a definitive answer, but blood HCG can now be used to determine this.
Blood HCG is not only highly sensitive but also, because it provides "quantitative" data, it allows for accurate judgment.
HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) is the hormone most familiar and commonly used by obstetricians as a "pregnancy test" hormone.
It is composed of an α and β dimeric glycoprotein.
However, the α subunit is shared with hormones from the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland.
The β subunit is specific to HCG.
Complete HCG is produced entirely by the syncytiotrophoblast of the placental chorion.
Its main function is to stimulate the corpus luteum, promoting the continuous secretion of estrogen and progesterone,
to facilitate the formation of the endometrium and the growth and maturation of the placenta.
Modern understanding holds that HCG is produced by transitional trophoblast cells and syncytiotrophoblast cells.
It increases rapidly in the first 8 weeks of pregnancy to maintain the pregnancy.
After approximately 8 weeks of gestation, HCG gradually declines until it reaches a relatively stable level around 20 weeks.
Normal Reference Values:
Normal blood HCG levels < 10 μg/L,
Normal β-HCG levels < 3.1 μg/L.
The absolute value of serum HCG varies greatly during different periods of pregnancy and among different women,
meaning that it is not consistent from person to person.