Author(s)
Lisa Senzel, MD, PhD
Clinical Professor of Pathology
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York
Primary Audience: Pathologists and Clinical Scientists
Secondary Audience: Residents, Laboratory Technologist/Scientist (Includes all sub-specialty areas), Students, Pathologist Assistants, Laboratory Directors and Educators
Upon completion of this activity, you will be able to:
· describe causes for persistent low-positive human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) results;
· distinguish when it is best to re-test at the same laboratory, versus when to send to a laboratory that uses a different test platform;
· explain why the same sample may give different hCG results at different laboratories;
· describe how interfering substances can affect immunoassay tests, and how to establish if these are present; and
· explain why some hCG assays are intended only for pregnancy while other hCG assays are used as tumor markers.