Abstract:

Objective To investigate the significance of activin A in the early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy(EP). Methods A total of 109 patients with suspected EP were classified into 2 groups according to the follow-up results:62 patients with EP and 47 patients with intrauterine pregnancy (IUP). The serum levels of activin A and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) were determined in 109 patients with suspected EP by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves were established. The diagnosis significance of activin A and β-HCG for EP was analyzed. Results The levels of activin A and β-HCG in EP group were significantly lower than those in IUP group(P<0.05). The area under ROC curves of activin A (0.827) was higher than that of β-HCG(0.710). In activin A＜260 pg/mL for the diagnosis of EP,the sensitivity and specificity were 85.5% and 72.3%, respectively. Conclusions The determination of serum activin A can be considered as an early diagnosis parameter of EP.

Key words: Activin A, Beta-human chorionic gonadotropin, Ectopic pregnancy, Receiver operating characteristic curve