A NEW TEST IN ANTENATAL MONITORING-THE EVALUATION OF SALIVARY UNCONJUGATED ESTRIOL MEASUREMENT

A new unconjugated saliva estriol (SE_3) determination by radioimmunoassay(~3H-E_3) was used to monitor 497 fetuses of late pregnancies, including 280 high-risk and217 normal pregnant women. The normal pregnant SE_3 values had been established by themeasurement of 1378 cases from 20 to 41 weeks of gestation. The results of SE_3 assaysrevealed that 1. In prenatal prediction of fetal well-being, the total false negative andfalse positive rates were 2.0% and 0.6%, respectively, the correct rate which was similarto that of serum free E_3 (SFE_3) values was 97.4%, and was significantly higher thanthat of overnight 12-hour urine E_3/C analyses as formerly reported. 2. There were 8 fetaldeathe in 11 cases with low SE_3 levels. No perinatal death occurred in the 486 cases withnormal SE_3 values, except one fetus who died of nuchal cord strangulation. It is highlyimportant that the saliva specimen be correctly collected and the technique ofmeasurement of SE_3 be carefully carried out. Our observations suggest that the clinicaluse of SE_3 assays are scientific, reliable, and it is more practicable than that of SFE3 as-says. The determination of SFE_3 can be replaced by SE_3 test for assessing fetal-placentalwell-being.

A NEW TEST IN ANTENATAL MONITORING-THE EVALUATION OF SALIVARY UNCONJUGATED ESTRIOL MEASUREMENT

A new unconjugated saliva estriol (SE_3) determination by radioimmunoassay(~3H-E_3) was used to monitor 497 fetuses of late pregnancies, including 280 high-risk and217 normal pregnant women. The normal pregnant SE_3 values had been established by themeasurement of 1378 cases from 20 to 41 weeks of gestation. The results of SE_3 assaysrevealed that 1. In prenatal prediction of fetal well-being, the total false negative andfalse positive rates were 2.0% and 0.6%, respectively, the correct rate which was similarto that of serum free E_3 (SFE_3) values was 97.4%, and was significantly higher thanthat of overnight 12-hour urine E_3/C analyses as formerly reported. 2. There were 8 fetaldeathe in 11 cases with low SE_3 levels. No perinatal death occurred in the 486 cases withnormal SE_3 values, except one fetus who died of nuchal cord strangulation. It is highlyimportant that the saliva specimen be correctly collected and the technique ofmeasurement of SE_3 be carefully carried out. Our observations suggest that the clinicaluse of SE_3 assays are scientific, reliable, and it is more practicable than that of SFE3 as-says. The determination of SFE_3 can be replaced by SE_3 test for assessing fetal-placentalwell-being.