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hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, is a hormone that is formed and released from the placenta in connection with pregnancy. hCG is excreted in both the blood and the urine, and analysis of hCG can therefore take place in both of these. The production of hCG begins very early during pregnancy and can be measured in both blood and urine as early as nine days after conception. The maximum value is usually seen in the ninth week of pregnancy and thereafter the levels gradually decrease to a relatively constant, but lower, level during the remainder of the pregnancy.
The main reason for analyzing hCG is suspicion of pregnancy. Even an ectopic pregnancy gives an elevated hCG value, but the levels will not increase as much as in a normal pregnancy. Similarly, some tumors can secrete hCG, e.g. tumors arising from the placenta in women.
A negative hCG test does not rule out pregnancy as it may have taken too short a time after conception. If pregnancy is still suspected, the sampling should therefore be repeated at a later date. Moderately elevated values can be seen in other diseases, such as e.g. liver cirrhosis, and a slight increase can sometimes also be seen in women after menopause.
