The prognostic value of serum estradiol, progesterone, testosterone and free testosterone levels in detecting early abortions

Abstract

Objective: Hormonal levels in early pregnancy may have predictive value in regard to outcome of pregnancy. In this study, the levels of estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), total testosterone (tT) and free testosterone (fT) were investigated in this respect. Materials and method: Seventy women with early pregnancies of 6–12 weeks who applied to the hospital for a pregnancy test were included into this study and were divided into three groups according to their final diagnosis. Group 1 consisted of 20 patients with anembryonic pregnancies, group 2 consisted of 20 patients with missed abortion and group 3 had 30 patients with normal pregnancies. Serum levels of E2, P, fT and tT were measured in every patient and the ratio of fT to tT was calculated (fT ratio). Results: E2, P and tT levels in patients with missed abortion or anembryonic pregnancies were significantly lower than those in the normal group, whereas fT ratio was significantly higher. The level of P over 12.3 ng/ml was found to be sensitive and specific with respect to detecting a normal pregnancy (95% and 90%, respectively). All patients whose fT ratios were 1.05 and higher, subsequently miscarried whereas the ones whose fT ratios were lower than 0.84 were considered as normal pregnancies. Conclusion: Serum P levels and fT ratio in early pregnancies can be used as a screening test with high sensitivity and specifity to predict a normal pregnancy.