Evaluation of a Plasma hCG Method for Point of Care Testing with the Aim of Shortening Test-Turnaround-Times

Anna-Karin Wikström¹, Magnus Hagmar¹, Göran Ronquist², Anders Larsson^2*

¹Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
²Department of Medical Sciences, Section of Clinical Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

DOI: 10.4236/ojog.2015.56049                

Abstract

Objective: To examine the correlation between plasma hCG results obtained with the new i-STAT® hCG point of care test with those concomitantly obtained from the central hospital laboratory utilizing the same patient samples. Methods: Prospective cross-sectional laboratory test evaluation. We compared plasma hCG results obtained with the i-STAT® hCG test (Abbott Point of Care, Princeton, NJ, USA) with Architect Ci8200 (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, USA). We also calculated the total coefficient of variation (CV) for the i-STAT® method. Results: The two methods showed a good linear correlation (R² = 0.994; slope 1.03) and CV for the i-STAT® method was 2.1% - 5.2%. Conclusion: We suggest that the i-STAT® hCG blood assay could be used as a complement to urine hCG assays in clinical situations when rapid test results are needed and urine is not available.

Keywords

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, Pregnancy, Method Evaluation, Point of Care Test

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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