ArticleFertility and sterility2012
How and when human chorionic gonadotropin curves in women with an ectopic pregnancy mimic other outcomes: differences by race and ethnicity.
Article in Fertility and sterility, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Case of Ectopic Pregnancy With an Unusually High Level of β-hCG Correlating With Normal Pregnancy.Cureus · 2025Article
- Following declining human chorionic gonadotropin values in pregnancies of unknown location: when is it safe to stop?Fertility and sterility · 2016Article
- Ectopic pregnancy secondary to in vitro fertilisation-embryo transfer: pathogenic mechanisms and management strategies.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2015Review
- The value of ratio of hCG, progesterone in local blood of pregnancy location versus venous blood in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy.International journal of clinical and experimental medicine · 2015Article
- Role of activins in embryo implantation and diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy: a review.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2014Article
- Pregnancy of unknown location.Journal of the Turkish German Gynecological Association · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the hCG profiles in a diverse patient group with ectopic pregnancy (EP) and to understand when they may mimic the curves of an intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) or spontaneous abortion (SAB).
designRetrospective cohort study.
settingThree university hospitals. PATIENT(S): One hundred seventy-nine women with symptomatic pregnancy of unknown location. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Slope of log hCG; days and visits to final diagnosis. RESULT(S): Of women with an EP, 60% initially exhibited an increase in hCG values, with a median slope of 32% increase in 2 days; 40% of subjects initially had an hCG decrease, with the median slope calculated as a 15% decline in 2 days. In total, the hCG curves in 27% of women diagnosed with EP resembled that of a growing IUP or SAB. Of the EP hCG curves, 16% demonstrated a change in the direction of the slope of the curve. This was more common in African Americans and less evident in Hispanics. Furthermore, it was associated with more clinical visits and days until final diagnosis. CONCLUSION(S): The rate of change in serial hCG values can be used to distinguish EP from an IUP or SAB in only 73% of cases. The number of women who had a change in direction of serial hCG values was associated with race and ethnicity.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.