New Pregnancy Test

Most laboratory tests for pregnancy work on the same principle: detection of a key hormone, chorionic gonadotrophin, found in the urine of a pregnant woman. A concentrate of a urine specimen is injected into a test animal (frog, rabbit, mouse); if present, the hormone will cause a recognizable reaction in the sex glands. If there is no reaction, the patient is presumed not pregnant. But no method is foolproof--frogs injected only with distilled water have developed reactions. Some tests (e.g., the Friedman test using rabbits, the Aschheim-Zondek test with mice) are highly accurate, but require 48 to 98 hours for definite results.

Last week, two Yale medical school gynecologists, John McL. Morris and Edward H. Hon, reported that they have developed a faster, economical test for which they claim virtually 100% accuracy. Their method follows the same principle as other tests, but with some significant differences: 1) they have developed a simplified technique of getting a stronger, faster-acting hormone preparation by using a chemical called kaolinalumina, which concentrates it from the urine; 2) they use a species of toad (Bufo americanus) as the test animal, because it is cheaper than other animals used and reacts quickly. Performed as early as ten days after suspected conception, the new test produces the reaction in as little as two hours.

The Hon-Morris test gives more than a yes or no answer: by measuring a pregnant patient's hormone level, it also indicates whether she is likely to suffer a miscarriage. If her chorionic gonadotrophin level is low (below 6,000 units), a miscarriage can be expected. Testing 2,000 cases, the Yale doctors correctly predicted 83 miscarriages well in advance.

Within a few years. Hon and Morris believe, the test will become standard in U.S. clinics and hospitals.

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