Comparison between serum levels of oestriol in venous and capillary blood from pregnant women.

The concentration of unconjugated oestriol in serum was measured in venous and capillary blood from 41 pregnant women. 22 women had uncomplicated pregnancies. The others had different kinds of complications including severe oedema and pre-eclampsia. The correlation between values of unconjugated oestriol in venous and capillary blood was high. In 77 out of 78 samples the conclusions drawn about the feto-placental function from venous and capillary blood were similar. The day-to-day variability was of the same order for capillary as for venous samples. A few samples were analysed for total oestriol and also in this case a high correlation was found between capillary and venous blood. It is concluded that capillary blood samples may well be used for estimation of total and unconjugated oestriol. Capillary blood could replace venous blood for estimation of unconjugated oestriol in the management of high risk pregnancies.