A MODIFICATION OF THE ASCHHEIM-ZONDEK TEST FOR PREGNANCY

Few if any laboratory diagnostic procedures are established on firmer scientific basis than the Aschheim-Zondek test for pregnancy. However, it has been repeatedly demonstrated in medicine that, while the scientific concepts and all theoretical considerations may be in harmony, actual practice has failed to confirm anticipations. It has been several years since Aschheim and Zondek¹ enunciated the principle and went far toward proving the practical value of the test that bears their name. Since that time, not only have the authors further demonstrated the practical value of the test by an extensive series of cases but similar reports have appeared from other laboratories. There has also appeared an occasional adverse report,² which we feel does not negate the basic value of the test but emphasizes some of the difficulties in the original technic of the test. Indeed, it is this problem which was responsible for our search for